Skyline Newspaper

This Saturday, June 28, the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and the Chicago Hispanic Health Coalition are holding a wellness event called ¡Vive tu vida! Get Up! Get Moving! Chicago. The goal of the event is to promote physical activity and good nutrition for Hispanic families, with a focus on wellness at all ages and all sizes.

¡Vive tu vida! Get Up! Get Moving! Chicago is free and open to the public, and will take place at the McKinley Park Field House at 2210 West Pershing Road in Chicago, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This is the event’s eighth year, brought to Chicago by ¡Vive tu vida! Get Up! Get Moving!, a national organization that brings family physical activity and healthy lifestyle events to communities around the United States.

At ¡Vive tu vida! Get Up! Get Moving!, Chicago residents can also receive free health screenings and information on blood pressure, cholesterol, kidney disease and diabetes. According to the Center for Disease Control, the rate of diagnosed Hispanic adults with diabetes in Illinois is 6.2 percent — on average twice as prevalent as diabetes is for white adults.

Participants of ¡Vive tu vida! Get Up! Get Moving! can also receive enrollment details for Medicare and Medicaid and vision and dental exams; the latter is important for family members of all ages, but especially aging Americans, as at least 38 percent of adults ages 35 to 44 have at least one missing tooth. In addition to that, the National Institutes of Health reports that Hispanics are more likely to have untreated dental caries (tooth decay), so regular dental exams are important for prevention purposes.

In addition to health and wellness activities, there will be fun and games, as well. Mexican folkloric dance performances, fitness walks, raffles, exercise demonstrations, tennis clinics sponsored by the U.S. Tennis Association, and a youth soccer tournament sponsored by 5 de Mayo and Univision will also provide family fun at ¡Vive tu vida! Get Up! Get Moving!

Over the past eight years, says Esther Sciammarella, Executive Director of Chicago Hispanic Health Coalition, “Thousands of Chicagoans have received free health screenings, joined an exercise group or sports team, or learned about health services available to them.”

Alderman and Chairman of the Committee on Health and Environmental Protection George A. Cardenas, who is a co-organizer for the event, says that “By promoting exercise and healthy eating in a fun and entertaining way, ¡Vive tu Vida! Get up! Get Moving! is working to change the lives of Latinos in Chicago and around the country.”

Sponsors for the event include Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), Newman’s Own Foundation, and the Healthy Americas Foundation. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company will bring a diabetes education pavilion entitled Llaves para una mejor salud (Keys to a Healthier You) which will include music and dance demonstrations and good nutrition stations, and it will also give Chicagoans the opportunity to speak with a certified diabetes educator.

Finally, all participants of ¡Vive tu vida! Get Up! Get Moving! Chicago will be eligible to register for the National Alliance for Hispanic Health’s Buena Salud Club, an organization that promotes healthy lifestyles through year-round reliable and confidential health information and referrals.