Residents of Ikorodu were the beneficiaries as the healthy living campaign of dairy and beverage makers Nutricima Limited berthed at the Jubilee Housing Estate in Ikorodu.

Medical and health professionals provided free tips on nutrition, exercise, as well as medical checks to participants in the Yo! Healthy Living Campaign spearheaded by Yo! the yoghurt drink in the Nutricima stable.

“The Yo! Healthy Living Campaign is a corporate social responsibility initiative of Nutricima aimed at sensitising citizens of Lagos State to the health benefits of simple but oft-forgotten routines. The exercise commenced in September 2012 and has gained momentum, going by the number of people that turned out to be screened by the medical team and get counsel from the nutritionists,” says a statement by Blueflower, a Lagos PR firm working for Nutricima.

News Express learnt that about 200 residents of Ikorodu turned up for the exercise within Jubilee Housing Estate. Doctors offered free medical checks on 128 persons who took advantage of the opportunity.

One of the beneficiaries, Mr. A. O. Abatan, said the exercise was rewarding to him as it helped establish his health status. A diabetic, Abatan said Nutricima helped him save costs on medical checks as the doctors around conducted all the needed checks. “My health status has been confirmed to be okay by the medical practitioners at the screening exercise. I am grateful for the opportunity,” he stated.

Mrs. Wande Oluwasegunfunmi, Head of Marketing Nutricima Limited, disclosed that the three-month exercise revolves round health walks, informative tips on healthy feeding habits, free aerobic sessions and free medical checks for residents of various communities.

She further disclosed that the campaign seeks to inculcate healthy living habits amongst Nigerians with a view to prolonging life expectancy through healthy lifestyles, health consciousness and consumption of Yo!

The Yo! Healthy Living Campaign consists of the “Walk for digestive health” powered by YO!, the yoghurt brand in three flavours. The CSR initiative is branded “YO! Community service initiative on digestive health.”

According to Nutricima officials, the exercise seeks to underscore the benefit of walking to digestive health and general well-being as well as enlighten consumers on the benefits of taking Yoghurt.

The Yo! Healthy Living Campaign commenced on Saturday, September 1, with a walk from Maryland to Ikeja. It incorporates a health check coordinated by public health expert and consultant biologist Dr. Femi Funsho-Adebayo.

Dr Funsho-Adebayo said that during each health walk, a team of doctors and health officials conduct free tests for people covering Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure monitoring (BPM), and waist to heart ratio. Other tests include sugar level, liver function test, and kidney function test. There are also tests for breast cancer (women), gynaecology and prostate cancer (men).

Males and females between ages 20 and 45 are the primary targets of the digestive health walk and medical checks. Other targets mainly involve mothers, students, office workers and athletes.

Funsho-Adebayo while lauding those that turned out for the exercise, counselled on the need to build on the gains of the healthy living initiative. His words: “As we know that life expectancy in Nigeria is just 45 years, largely due to highly mobile time pressured life style, it is therefore important that people pay attention to their health way before their forties, to avoid a breakdown midway in life.”

Doctors from neighbouring Osanyintuyi Medical Centre, led by Dr Blessing Udemezue, attended to the residents who took advantage of the free medical checks.

Dr. Funsho-Adebayo has conducted tests in all eight locations of the exercise so far. He recommended that the platform offered by Nutricima should be replicated every quarter to enable people check their health status as this would reduce the incidence of sudden death.

Other communities that already benefited from the healthy living campaign by Nutricima since it took off include Maryland/Ikeja, Atunrase Estate (Gbagada), LSDPC Estate (Ketu), Victoria Island, Mercy Eneli Estate (Surulere), and Omole Estate, (phases 1 and 2).

•Photo: Dr. Femi Adebayo (left) attending to a beneficiary of the Yo! healthy living campaign . . . in Ikorodu.