Kidney Health Fest For African American Families To Take Place This Saturday

 

Kidney Health Fest For African American Families
Kidney Health Fest For African American Families

 This Sat., June 22 Northwest Kidney Centers will hold its 11th annual Kidney Health Fest for African American Families, featuring free health screenings, education, entertainment and healthy food made by local celebrity chefs.

The free event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Van Asselt Elementary (formerly the African American Academy), 8311 Beacon Ave. S., in Seattle.

Free health screenings. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., participants can receive a free kidney health screening and private consultation with a doctor about the results. The screening includes a finger stick for a blood sample, urinalysis, blood pressure and weight check. Diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity all contribute to the current epidemic of kidney disease.

One in seven American adults has kidney disease. In the African American community, the number increases four-fold. Although African Americans make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, 35 percent of individuals with kidney failure on dialysis are African American. In addition, African American men are 10 to 14 times more likely to develop kidney failure due to high blood pressure than Caucasian men in the same age group.

Participants in the Kidney Health Fest will learn how to improve their lives to avoid kidney disease. This includes: Treating high blood pressure and diabetes, two of the leading causes of kidney failure; Quitting smoking; Reducing added salt and processed, packaged and fast food; Eating healthy to avoid obesity.; Exercising at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week; Avoiding the overuse of pain relievers such as ibuprofen and naproxen, which can damage kidneys.

For more information about the event or to pre-register, visit www.nwkidney.org/fest.

The Twitter hashtag for the Fest is #healthfest.