The Syracuse Housing Authority held an Interactive Health Fair at Toomey Abbott Towers Wednesday to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month and improve the health of the Syracuse community.

The fair included vendors who provided health services to Syracuse residents.

Kim Jackson, SHA elderly services program coordinator, said she is responsible for taking care of residents living in 10 high-rise buildings and providing health services to help improve residents’ lives.

She said she came up with the idea of inviting vendors to provide services at the fair as part of her job.

“It would be a good idea to have all people seeking health services in a room and to listen to their problems and concerns,” Jackson said.

The interactive fair was engaging because people could get flu shots, one-on-one counseling and check their blood pressure, she said.

“It’s interactive — not a boring, old health fair,” she said.

Jackson said she feels people are tired of going to a health fair to just get some information rather than receiving services.

George Athanas, a Rite Aid pharmacist, said a lot of people now are getting sick when the seasons change. He said he encourages people to get vaccinated at a doctor or at a drugstore or a pharmacy.

“It’s something everybody should do,” Athanas said. “It’s preventing diseases, preventing pet transmitting problems and you want to get as many people on board as possible.”

Suzanne Taddeo, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a health coach at Can Do Coaching, said she does cooking demonstrations to help people with diabetes or heart disease make better food choices.

Taddeo said she recommends the whole food plant-based diet, which is eating things as close to their natural state as possible.

People who have those diseases should consume food that is untouched and unprocessed, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts and whole grains, she said.

One in four U.S. citizens have either pre-diabetes or diabetes, Taddeo added.

The obesity epidemic, which Taddeo said is the most prevalent type and the biggest cause of Type 2 diabetes, is escalating. If the trend continues in the next 25 years, she said almost all U.S. citizens will be obese and have diabetes.

“We need to stop that trend,” Taddeo said.

The best way to do that, Taddeo said, is to eat healthy food and unprocessed food. Taddeo said if people stay with the natural foods, people lose weight very quickly.

“We are not adding a lot of extra fat and we are not adding a lot of salt and sugar,” she said, adding that limiting the amount of meat and dairy is also important.

Published on October 19, 2016 at 10:58 pm

Contact Chieh: chchen@syr.edu