With the intention to promote a healthy lifestyle among UTAR students, Year Four students from the Nursing programme organised a webinar titled “Invest in Your Health” on 14 September 2020 via Microsoft Teams. The webinar, which was held in conjunction with the Health Promotion course, was a project led by four students. It saw more than 60 participants in attendance.

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Nursing Department Head Liew Siew Fun said, “The aim of this health promotion is not only meant to spread a caring message for everyone but also to provide for the needy in Klang Valley. The goal of the programme is to shape up a caring message and understand the importance of right diet to maintain a healthy life.”

Organising the event were Chairperson Chu Jing En, Secretary Michelle Chang Siang Jie, Treasurer Gilber H’ng Yung Han, Activity Manager Phoon Wil Son and Event Advisor FMHS lecturer Woo Li Fong. Chu spoke about diabetes, diabetes trend in Malaysia, physiology and pathophysiology as well as the risk factors of Type-2 diabetes. Chu said, “Today we emphasise on health investment by gaining knowledge to prevent one from getting the disease. It is never too early to look after ourself. Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease. It is also a known as a metabolic disease because it disrupts the normal metabolism.”

The following session saw Gilbert sharing the symptoms of diabetes and the complication of diabetes. He said, “The three ‘P’s of diabetes are known as Polyuria, Polydipsia and Polyphagia. Polyuria means increased of urination while Polydipsia carries the meaning of increased thirst. Polyphagia means an increase in hunger. Some symptoms of diabetes are such as numbness on tingling extremities, slow healing of wound, blurry vision and others. Diabetes complications are like cerebrovascular disease, cardiovascular disease, peripheral neuropathy, diabetic foot injury, retinopathy and others.”
 
Michelle Chang spoke about the prevention of Type-2 diabetes through a balanced diet. “There is a lot of complication associated with Type-2 diabetes, thus it is important for us to take preventive measure. The first preventive measure is to have a healthy diet by using the Malaysian Healthy Plate. It is also important to cut down sugar in your diet. Besides having a healthy and balanced diet, exercise can increase the insulin sensitivity of your cells which also helps in weight loss.”

“The practical way is to achieve a balance in sugar intake. Thus, it is important to know the standard sugar intake per day and to read the food label. By reading the food label, we will be able to keep track of the calorie intake per serving and the sugar content. Calories provide a measure of how much energy you get from a serving. Sugar does not directly cause type 2 diabetes,” said Phoon during his session on how to read a food label and nutrition facts.

The idea of the webinar was a result of one nursing student’s final year research project titled “A survey on students’ knowledge and consumption pattern of bubble milk tea in a private university, Kajang”. This event collected a total of RM300, which was used to buy groceries for the Home for Special People in Kajang.

This health promotion event not only developed nursing students’ skills in promoting a healthy lifestyle but also provided a platform for them to serve the community. The student organisers felt that this event was very meaningful as they were able to apply their knowledge and skills to organise this event and disseminate health-related information to the university students.