Being a Samoan, you’re basically known as “big” and on some rare occasions “big-boned”, but just being a Pacific Islander in general you’re known as “big”. But why must we live up to that stereotype? Is it the type of environment that we live in? The community? Or can we blame it on the ancestors from generations before us?  We, as Pacific Islanders, don’t have to live up to that stereotype. We can make a difference in not only our lives, but in the lives of generations after us. Like President Obama said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”-BARACK OBAMA, speech, Feb. 5, 2008 (http://www.notable-quotes.com/o/obama_barack.html)

Pacific Islanders of the East Palo Alto and East Menlo community and… well all over the world… it is time for a CHANGE! We shouldn’t be bound by our weight. We are too young to be living with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or being short of breath just because we're walking a short distance. It’s time we take a fighting chance and break through all the stereotypes that are being said about Pacific Islanders being big. It’s time we start eating healthy and getting active!

Why must we, by the age of 17, be nearly 200 pounds? Is that really necessary for our race?  I dislike the fact that Samoans being big is looked at as a good thing-in order to benefit the football or rugby team! Why can’t we be healthy and still be looked at as benefiting the team?

I for one am a 17-year-old Samoan girl that resides in East Palo Alto and it saddens me when I see our youth nearly as big as their parents; not only the youth but the older folks as well. As a Pacific Islander it seems that we keep on proving everyone that all we’re good for is eating. Now I understand that we always joke around about us being hungry, but maybe we should approach that from a different angle.  All this joking around may be our insecurities that we wear on our sleeves; a burden that we carry around with us constantly.

To all my Polynesian brothers and sisters I write this because I am concerned about the direction our race is going and the food choices that we are making. I am not here to force you to eat healthy, however, I am trying to convince you all to try it. Fruits and vegetables can taste good. If you dislike the taste of a certain vegetable or fruit, maybe we need to try new ones and cook them in new and interesting ways that aren't high in saturated fat. It’ll grant you with a longer life and more energy. I honestly will admit that, yes, I don’t always make the best food choices but I am trying to make an impact-not only on the Polynesian community but on my younger siblings.

I hope you all would take in consideration what I said above and rethink about eating your problems away or buying that extra large popcorn from the movie theaters. Eat by portions and if you have a problem you could always go and play a game of football or basketball. I end this wishing you all one love and happiness. 

Hi my name is Alisha.  I’m here to talk about my personal story, about the changes I made in my life that led me to be more active.

Back in the days when I was younger, I used to ride my bike. I usually walked with my friends. Since middle school, I have walked all around my community. It was a lot of fun, but I noticed that I started to lose weight. I decided it was time to step up my game and get more active, so I started doing African Dance.

I discovered a class at a youth center, where I took lessons on Congolese Dancing, mostly known to many as African Dance. It’s a very active movement that is spiritual in my culture. It helped me gain more confidence and self-esteem within myself. It made me see the positives that outweighed the negativity in our community. 

I also started making the right choices on eating better. I used to eat a lot of fast food till I realized it was unhealthy. So I decided to start eating at home, cooking meals by boiling or baking my food and eating a lot of vegetables.

All this walking, dancing, and eating healthy has led me to feel good about myself. I gained self-confidence, high self-esteem and became more of an independent woman. From this day forward I am happy with who I am.

What's your experience? How do you stay healthy?

People in California and all over the United States seem to have very mixed feelings and opinions about the soda tax. While many argue that it should be up to people to decide what they want to drink and think that taxing drinks like sodas is extremely unfair, many others believe that this tax should go into place to discourage people from drinking unhealthy beverages. 

Sacramento Democrat Deborah Ortiz introduced the “California Soda Tax” proposal (Senate Bill 1520), in 2002 in high hopes of passing a bill that would increase tax on the purchases of still and carbonated drinks. This would include sodas and other drinks like juices that have 10 percent or less fruit and vegetable concentrates. If this bill was to pass it would have imposed a surtax of $2 per gallon of beverage syrup to distributors, wholesale dealers and manufactures of these beverages.  It would also impose a 21-cent per gallon increase for all drinks that can be mixed from powder.

As obesity and diabetes are major problems in the United States, the government is trying to find ways to improve health.  The soda tax would be one such initiative. Many people see this as positive step towards helping people lead healthier lives because it could lower the consumption of beverages like sodas, since their prices would rise.

Yet there are other people like the manufacturers of these products that are absolutely against this tax.They believe that soda should not be the only product blamed for such illnesses as diabetes and obesity; there are other products that contribute to poor health. They believe that a tax should not be imposed; it should be up to people to determine what to drink and how they go about it.

If this bill or something similar to it were passed, it would raise about $300-400 million each year that would be disbursed to schools and health programs. Some of the money would be given to schools that agree not to sell soda on their campuses; some would be allocated to the state Department of Health Services; and the rest would be given to clinics, emergency centers, trauma care centers and hospitals.  By focusing on the prevention of obesity and diabetes, our country would save millions of dollars, which would otherwise be spent on treating such health problems in the future; this thought is shared by many, including President Obama.   

So far this soda tax has been proposed in New York, amongst other cities. Currently, there is a lot of discussion around this tax being implemented in more and more places, including California. Although this bill was introduced in California in 2002, the battle will continue between people who believe that the tax is unfair and between others who believe it’s time for the government to take responsibility and discourage people from drinking unhealthy beverages. 

Helpful Resources:

CCPHA Resources/ Soda tax

Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care

The Rudd Center Health Digest: Soda Tax Proposed in New York

Operators call Calif. soda tax proposal big, fat pain

Our names are Jennifer and Crystal.  We’re currently working with EPA.NET, and before we got here we didn’t know much about staying healthy or where we could go work out. Since we’ve been in this six-week program we’ve learned more about health and how to stay healthy.

We’ve also learned about many new places where we can work out such as: YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, the Lord's Gym, the East Palo Alto Boxing Club and the Cesar Chavez Elementary School track and field. Some people we know have excuses not to go, like, the equipment isn’t well kept, or they don’t like to work out on their own.

Well instead of making excuses for yourself, grab a buddy and get off your video games, computer, or television, grab a water bottle, and get to one of these places or whichever is closest to you.  It’s a better way to spend your time.