The Asian American Council (AAC) of Dayton and participating organizations hope that expanded health and fitness services will attract more people, including young audiences, to their annual health expo.
With that goal in mind, they have added fitness elements, including group and individual instruction classes in a variety of disciplines to the event.
Dr. Ron Katsuyama chairs the AAC and serves as event coordinator for this year's health fair. He says the organization has held the event before but the expanded health and fitness services that will be offered this year bring the event to a whole new level.
"We have, for example, not just the traditional screenings, both physical and behavioral, but a dozens of presentations by professionals on a variety of topics - everything from acupuncture, aging in America, bullying, cancer detection, dental care. etc...."
Katsuyama says it was "staggering how many experts just stepped forward saying they want to be a pert of this."
The doctor also says it was a local mother and high school age son who were responsible for the expansion of the health fair and fitness expo.
Student, Shravon Kalahasthy, has become passionate about increasing the number of Asians included in the national bone marrow donor registry. He and his mother, Dr. Jhansi Koduri, are both members of the India Club of Dayton. For some time, they have embarked on a campaign to increase the number of bone marrow donors among Asian populations.
"They approached me and said, there is a huge disparity in the bone-marrow registry for Aisians compared to the general public," Katsuyama said. "If somebody is in need with a life-saving bone marrow transplant, there's about a 92% chance of finding a match overall, but among those in the Asian communities, it could be as low as two to three percent for Southeast Asian immigrant groups."
Katsuyama says the council decided to support the donor campaign and add fitness and other cultural elements into its health outreach services. In this interview for WYSO Weekend, he talks more about the council's mission, including its formation after 9/11, and provides more details about the health fair.
The Asian American Council of Dayton's Health Fair and Fitness Expo is Saturday, April 14. Learn more at: http://events.aacdayton.org/expo2018
