Eric Fanene, a 38-year-old resident of Anchorage and now Utqiagvik, lost more than 200 pounds by eating more fruits and vegetables and moving more through an activity he loves: Xtreme Hip-Hop step aerobics. During the public film premiere at the Salvation Army Gym, 1701 C St., Alaska’s Fresh Start campaign will show a video of Fanene teaching aerobics to improve his health, but also his community’s. The Dec. 7 event will end with Fanene teaching anyone who wants to join a fun session of Xtreme Hip-Hop step aerobics.
The Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center will have staff available at the event to connect any attendees to affordable resources (including discount programs) and appointments with health care providers. During those appointments, providers will take a health history and complete appropriate screenings to identify the best ways to help meet health goals, such as losing weight, lowering blood pressure, managing blood sugar or cholesterol, and stopping smoking.
The Fresh Start campaign, run through Alaska’s Department of Health, filmed Fanene’s story to share how finding an activity you enjoy makes it easier to move every day. The video and Fresh Start’s other messages show the impact of daily activity on preventing and managing many chronic diseases, like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer and more.
“I never thought physical activity would be fun,” Fanene said. “Once I found Xtreme Hip-Hop, it was a game changer.”
“Once exercise becomes fun, it’s no longer working out. I want to show others the joy I have in hopes that they’ll have it too.”
Most Alaska adults live with a chronic health condition. Many Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults do too.
PCA began in 2021 to help a community that was hit hard by COVID-19, said its Executive Director, Tafilisaunoa Toleafoa. During the pandemic, COVID-19 death rates were highest among Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) Alaskans when comparing all races and ethnicities. Toleafoa said PCA helped community members better understand the virus, provide vaccination clinics, and take care of one another. It also focused on supporting overall health, which included PCA’s “Step into Wellness” Initiative that featured Fanene’s hip-hop step aerobics.
Toleafoa said the core goal for PCA during the pandemic was to provide the NHOPI community with accurate information about COVID-19 from trusted sources that was translated and explained in a culturally relatable way. Additionally, PCA worked to encourage physical activity to support community health and well-being in a time of isolation. When people were social distancing, PCA asked Fanene to teach step aerobics through its “Step Into Wellness” Initiative. Fanene streamed the aerobics live on Facebook, in addition to teaching in-person sessions. PCA continued to support Fanene so he could teach aerobics in Anchorage at no cost for community members who attended. Fanene recently moved to Utqiagvik and has started teaching step aerobics there, too.
“We're trying to get our community fit,” Fanene said. “I definitely want to give back to that culture, that community that helped inspire me, who I am today.”
During the Dec. 7 film premiere, Toleafoa will talk about how PCA is improving physical, mental and emotional health for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people. In Alaska, nearly 3 out of 4 Alaska adults have at least one ongoing chronic disease, condition or related behavior like smoking. Toleafoa said many of these chronic diseases are common among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people. Survey data from 2018 showed that NHOPI people were 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with or die from diabetes compared to non-Hispanic white people.
“My community is such high risk for diabetes,” Fanene said. “We don't have to continue to have diabetes. We don’t have to continue to have heart disease. We can make a change.”
PCA inspires community members to show up for
themselves and each other.
Toleafoa has known Fanene for a long time and is inspired by his perseverance to stick with healthy changes to what he eats and how often he moves. Fanene’s consistency led to losing hundreds of pounds over six years. Fanene said he will continue prioritizing these changes to lose more weight for better health.
Toleafoa says Fanene is showing up for himself, and that’s so important for PCA.
“We cannot take care of our community if we are not taking care of ourselves,” Toleafoa said.
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