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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2015-07-01, Page 66 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, July 1, 2015 Contributed photo Gerard Creces speaks to the local NDP members after winning the nomination for Huron -Bruce in this fall's federal election. Gerard Creces chosen as federal NDP candidate for Huron Bruce Dave Flaherty Goderich Signal Star Gerard Creces will be join- ing the world that he reported on for the past decade. Creces, a former reporter with the Goderich Signal Star and Clinton News Record, was selected as the federal NDP candidate for Huron - Bruce on Thursday evening. He beat out Jan Johnstone, who previously ran for the NDP, federally in 1997 and provincially last year. Creces said it is imperative for the party to reach out to younger voters and get them Gateway seeks to tackle poor diets and sede Marco Vigliotti Huron Expositor A Seaforth-based research institute is developing two ambitious initiatives to tackle some of rural Canada's steep- est health challenges - inac- tivity and degenerating phys- ical faculties. The Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health is tapping summer research students Alanna Roy and Julia Huber to help in efforts to create a range of protein - rich food products and to seek ways to encourage phys- ical activity among older residents. Roy, who hails from Clin- ton, is assisting with Grand - Spark, a weeklong event held at the Edge of Walton tasked with introducing a range of physical activities, such as yoga, canoeing and weight training, to rural residents both young and old. As it location suggests, par- ticipants will also work through the challenge courses available at the Wat- lon-based facility, as well as take in a nutrition workshop. The project, which specifi- cally targets grandparents and their grandchildren, looks to determine whether a shared exercise scheme 3rd Annual Mayor's Mingle A Celebration of Volunteerism July 7, 2015 5-8 PM Central Huron Community Complex First 120 People Receive a free gift from Egg Farmers of Ontario! Complimentary BBQ Meal Courtesy of: between young and older residents encourages more frequent physical activity in the future. "It's trying to get them working in a shared interac- tive pastime...seeing if that physical activity program would be beneficial," Roy said in an interview with the Expositor at Gateway's office on Seaforth's Main Street. Once the program wraps up, the older participants will be given fitness trackers to see if the weeklong event encouraged them to work out more frequently, she added. Those interested in being one of the 35 groups of two participating are encouraged to register at grandsparks. com. The cost to participate is $80 per pair, with the event running from 9 a.m. to noon. between July 13 and 17. This push to bolster physi- cal activity comes as rural areas grapple with rapidly growing elderly populations, with Huron County ranking as the third -oldest region in the country, according to Roy. As a result, these rural regions typically have higher rates of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, among other ailments, than their urban counterparts. According to Statistics Canada's 2005 Community Health Survey, people with involved with the future of the country. Speaking to NDP support- ers at the MacKay Centre in Goderich, Creces said he ran his campaign with a very small budget and limited amount of resources. He listed important issues as committing to an inquiry regarding 1,200 missing Indigenous women in Can- ada, Bill C-51, which he says treats all Canadians as "sus- pects', transpacific partner- ships and their effects on supply management agreements. Also, he believes corporate taxes breaks and easement ntary lifestyles diabetes composed 6.3 per cent of the population in Huron County, compared to the Canadian average of 4.8 per cent. The same rings true for obesity, with just under 23 per cent of adults 18 and over in Huron County classifying as obese in the survey, while the Canadian average was recorded at 15.1 per cent. And Huron County is hardly alone in this struggle. According to Gateway, Huron, Perth, Grey and Bruce counties all experience sig- nificantly higher rates of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, some forms of can- cer, chronic lung disease, depression, mild cognitive impairment (Alzheimer's) than urban rates. In addition to bolstering fitness regimes, Gateway is also seeking to improve the diet of older residents. Huber, who grew up in Goderich, is working with EverSpring Farms to develop three food products to tackle a range of health ailments. She is helping to create a cereal/oatmeal to target car- diovascular issues, a soup mix to address sarcopenia (loss of muscle tissue as part of the aging process) and a topper for food that seeks to curb diabetes. "We've started FOR MOV1E INFORMATION... www, rnov i I i rrks.ca on laws regarding foreign takeovers are not creating jobs but only helping pad the profits of companies, while young people are working minimum wage jobs. Creces said working in the capacity of a journalist has afforded him the ability to meet many people in the rid- ing and given him a certain extent of "name recognition". However, he said he has to get the word out on his plan for Huron -Bruce. He was highly active on social media during his quest for nomination, posting daily videos on Facebook and YouTube. According to Creces, these types of tools are valuable in reaching the younger genera- tion of voters. To him, the time is now for the NDP to strike will the iron is hot. "We have the numbers to make a difference," he said. Visibly moved by his vic- tory, Creces thanked his supporters. "You have put a lot of faith in me and I'm going to live up to your expectations," he said. "This is the best chance we've ever had. We can't squander it, it's time to take the power back," Creces said. Marco Vigliotti Huron Expositor Alanna Roy and Julia Huber, two of the summer research students at Seaforth-based Gateway, are assisting their respective research chairs with the projects to improve health outcomes for older rural residents. on the diabetes and the car- diovascular one - they're almost completed," said Huber, who recently finished her undergraduate program in nutrition at the University of Western Ontario. The soup mix, however, will be made in the future, she added. For the diabetes topper, Huber said the ingredients include flaxseed and chia seed, as well as fruit, vegeta- ble and vitamin powders. As for the cereal to address car- diovascular woes, it will include oats, vitamin D sup- plements, buckwheat, as well as fruit and vegetable powders. Meanwhile, the soup will feature creatine and protein powders. Determining what ingredi- ents should be included to address the various maladies involved plenty of research and work in the lab, Huber said. "I've spent lots of time (in the lab) mixing different ingredients together," she explained. Gateway is also hosting several health -oriented events this summer that will seek to raise funds to support the research conducted at the institute. The group will be putting on its hometown hockey game - dubbed `Raise a Little Health' - on July 23 at the Goderich YMCA. The event will feature local products that have reached the upper echelons of the hockey world as well as local medical professionals. Following that will be the Gateway Health in Wealth Run on August 29 along the Maitland Trail. The event will offer two, five and 10 kilome- tre courses for participants