FOOD Convention EXTRA CREDIT

When I was told about the food convention I didn't know what to expect, since I had never been to one before. I would have never found myself interested in something like this until I actually went and experienced it. I traveled to the convention with my parents and my friend Vicky and we had an amazingly great time. We stopped at all of the booths and talked and tried samples of everything. Some of the stuff looked great but didn't taste too great and something were just amazing. I decided I was going to stay for two workshops and carefully picked out the ones I wanted to spend time at. The first workshop I took was called "healthy eating can help beat diabetes" which focused on eating healthy and prevention of diabetes. This workshop was very important for me to take because my grandfather died of diabetes amongst other diseases so it helped me take a look at my eating habits and see what little changes I could make that would help make. I took some helpful tips that I am going to include in case anyone would like to read them...

* Instead of eating too much, you can eat smaller servings because bigger is NOT better. Check food labels, packages often contain more than one serving and that means extra calories if you eat the whole thing!
*Instead of drinking soda or sugary drinks, you can drink water, seltzer or 1% milk. This tip helped me out a lot because I never knew how bad and how much weight can be gained by drinking soda. I urged my mother to buy seltzer which satisfies my craving for bubbly soda as well as helps out my health.
*Instead of snacking on junk foods, eat healthier snacks such as pretzels, low fat popcorn, baby carrots, celery grapes, dried fruit, yogurt, etc.
*If you eat unhealthy fats and oils try to switch to healthier oils such as olive oil and canola oil. Use oils and spreads that say "0 grams trans fat"
* If you eat a lot of fast food try to eat it at least once a week and avoid super sizing up your meals.
* If you usually eat red meats, try buying fish chicken or turkey. Try boiling, grilling or steaming these meats.

The second workshop I took focused on was being healthy while expecting and was called " Women's health, Take control" This workshop was extremely interesting because it built off of our whole birth unit and it gave direct instructions on what women need to know. One thing that surprised me was the fact that in the workshop it talked about how a women controls if she wants to be pregnant or not and to take advantage of birth control methods if the women doesn't want to become pregnant. The workshop also addressed the fact that a women doesn't need a mans consent for reproductive services even if they are under the age of 18. This was very important to me because it made me even more aware of my options and the fact that adults recognized that even teenagers are capable of making decisions with this matter. This workshop was extremely empowering to me as a female. In the workshop they spoke about 10 specific ways women can stay healthy and gave out pamphlets to remind us women what we need to do. The 10 points from the pamphlet are:
1. Having a regular doctor and scheduling visits, which check for high blood pressure, diabetes, mammograms, etc.
2. Knowing your HIV status, use condoms, get tested for HIV/STD's, get vaccinated to ensure the health of yourself and the baby.
3. Be tobacco free! Quit smoking ad avoid second hand smoke to prolong your life and protect those around you. This is an issue I see a lot with pregnant women. I see a lot of pregnant women that still smoke and I know it is a hard habit to break but it upsets me that these women are so selfish that they put their needs before the health of their child. There are statistics that say more women die from lung cancer than ANY other cancer! Smoking greatly affects the child's size, features, and can make them more likely to have asthma, bronchitis, and can cause Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS)
4. Get regular exercise and eat a healthy diet.
5. Live free of independence on alcohol and drugs.
6. Get help if you are depressed or experiencing domestic violence.
7. Choose if and when to get pregnant- its every women's right.
8. If you're planning a pregnancy see a doctor or other health provider for a pre-pregnancy check up.
9. See a health care provider as soon as you think you might be pregnant.
10. Protect your developing baby!

A lot of these points are very important and it is crucial that women who are prenagnt are aware of all of these issues. Especially now with our society addicted to drugs, alcohol and unsafe sex. I am happy that I got to experience this particualr workshop along with my friend who found it very helpful as well but its bittersweet. A lot of women who are actually gpregnant are not aware of all of these dangers and because of their ignorance the child has to suffer. It is very sad but at least when the time comes I get prengant or anyone close to me does I will make sure to hand them this very helpful pamphlet and hopefully it will help!

Overall the food convention was very helpful and in the future I plan on being apart of it to help educate the community further.