This is a chart posted at Canvasback Wellness Center that works on educating people how to eradicate diabetes. I eat there almost everyday for lunch. They serve food that I wouldn't be able to get otherwise such as salads for practically pennies. They do not "serve anything that has a mother" (vegetarian food). They also have breakfast but I don't eat there due to having to work.
Sections of the chart is posted below.
37% of the people here have diabetes, the highest of all the countries listed. The south pacific countries have some of the highest rates of diabetes.
People here get diabetes mostly because of their lifestyle (food choices). They eat lots of rice, canned meat (spam), fish, chicken, sweets, processed food such as chips and sweetened drinks such as soda and fruit punch.
There are not a lot of overweight people here, yet the diabetes rate is high. Most young men (teens-40's) are lean with lots of muscles on their arms from all the physical work they do. Yet some of them have diabetes.
Their food choices paired with not having a doctor on the outer islands and not knowing what diabetes is makes this a difficult disease to conquer.
The Canvasback Wellness Center serve food that most Marshallese people do not see on their plate regularly such as vegetables. They also offer a gym that people can use for free and classes educating people about diabetes and how to reduce diabetes.
There are some success stories posted in the center telling us about people who have gone through the class and successfully eliminated diabetes. The stories are amazing!
The center was established when the first president got diabetes and went to Hawaii to get treated. He found out that diabetes here is caused because of food choices so he wanted to set up a Wellness center.
This place helped me eat vegetables. Before I started eating there, I was actually craving salad and vegetables, so I started eating there. Vegetables here are crazy expensive and often have mold.
On a side note, Canvasback Missions is an organization that often sends doctors from America to provide services for Marshallese people that the hospital is not able to provide. For example, they sent a team of doctors here to provide on/gyn services a few months ago. They stayed for about 2 weeks. Another team of doctors will be coming to focus on something else. The specializations rotate. They also donate a lot of money to get things that people need.
