Healthy Living Toongabbie
Western Sydney is a recognised diabetes hotspot, shaped by the convergence of an obesogenic environment, ethnogenetic susceptibility, and limited access to culturally tailored health resources.
Highly urbanised and socioeconomically diverse areas like Blacktown and Toongabbie, home to a large Tamil-speaking Australian population, are particularly impacted. South Asian communities face elevated cardiometabolic risk due to the thin-fat phenotype, earlier onset of insulin resistance, and underrepresentation in mainstream health messaging.
Healthy Living Toongabbie (HLT) Inc. is a community-founded, not-for-profit organisation established in 2019 to advocate for chronic disease prevention through culturally informed health literacy. Comprised of local GPs, allied health professionals, and community members. HLT is building a foundation for healthier communities by:
- Promoting sustainable healthy behaviours;
- Increasing awareness of preventable lifestyle-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity; and
- Empowering individuals to take control of their health through practical, community-based learning.
HLT expands on targeted diabetes early detection and prevention programs, with a focus on South Asian communities, and collaborates with other organisations to enhance health literacy among CALD populations. Its model offers a replicable framework for how locally grounded, culturally informed organisations can lead change in high-risk, under-resourced communities such as those in Western Sydney.
- To learn more, watch this video below.
- To join up, visit their website
- Follow them on Facebook.
- Watch educational videos by experts in Tamil on gestational diabetes.
