The members of Hinemlo’ Familia come from numerous disciplines, medical, academic, educational, and business, united with the intention of improving health in the CNMI.
The members are Joseph C. Santos, Dr. Daniel Lamar, Jackie A. Quitugua, Chailang T. Palacios, Nhing Reyes and Frances T. Demapan.
“The central mission of Hinemlo’ Familia is to advocate prevention, intervention, and promote wellness, for one and all, in their lives, work and play. Its core beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors consider the environment as a major driving force in our daily lives,” Chairman Joseph C. Santos said.
“These behaviors begin within individuals, families, schools, then the wider community. Hinemlo’ Familia’s goal is to partner with other organizations within the CNMI to reduce chronic health issues and to offer viable alternatives for their relief,” he said.
According to trustee member Jackie A. Quitugua, “As a team committed to being a ‘voice’ for our children, it is our hope that we can bring meaningful conversations concerning prevention and intervention in childhood obesity, health, well-being of families, training for schools, and further academic research on persistent health problems in the CNMI. The thrust of Hinemlo’ Familia is to increase the quality of life of our people.”
As the CNMI continues to grow and encounter challenges, the group realizes that all community members are all part of the solution to the barriers.
The data from the Department of Public Health, the Public School System, families and community mirror the immediate needs of children and adults alike.
According to the data:
• The CNMI ranked third in the world for prevalence of Type II diabetes.
• Obesity has been increasing at an alarmingly fast pace in the CNMI.
• Baseline information collected on the 2005-2007 participants of Project Familia Giya Marianas suggested that about one-half of the children had BMI, or body mass index, scores in the healthy weight range — 5th percentile to 85th percentile).
• Project 10, conducted by the CNMI Diabetes Control and Prevention Program, reports that 78 percent of participants confirm the existence of family members with diabetes.
• CNMI 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated that 49.7 percent of high school students were at risk of becoming overweight, and that 32.1 percent of high school students spent three or more hours per day of watching TV on an average school day.
Hinemlo’ Familia is about understanding and improving health through lifestyle intervention. It is about being a voice and responding to the needs of the voiceless.
