“Our Health & Wellbeing program is focused on establishing healthy lifestyles for refugees in the Za’atari United Nations refugee camp. Started in response to the Diabetes endemic occurring in the Middle East, the program structure consists of promoting healthier dietary alternatives, education on pro-active holistic health, monitoring progress with blood sugar indicators, and a exercise facility partnership, which include martial arts, soccer, strength and conditioning, etc..”

To combat leading health issues from the diabetes epidemic, Friendship Beyond Borders has launched the Health & Well-being management program. Although our initial monitored data display low symptoms of diabetes in children, data from the scientific research community reveal an exponential increase of diabetes-affected refugees in adulthood. Refugees are more prone to unhealthy diets, lifestyle decisions, and sedentary lives due to the unforgiving environment of the camp and personal trauma. This means that the current unhealthy lifestyle decisions of refugee children will detrimentally impact them in the future.

It is paramount that we protect the health of our refugee children so they can adopt better lifestyle choices that carry into adulthood. Our goal is to continue the close monitoring of refugee children in critical blood sugar conditions while continuing the promotion of our health-centered lifestyle programs to refugee families. By implementing our method of re-education, diet, and exercise, we will be able to establish healthy lifestyle changes that will prevent diabetes and other health issues before they become a larger problem in the future.