Assemblywoman Fiona Ma: Safety First for the Holidays

The holiday season is just around the corner and as we gather with friends and loved ones it's important to remember vital safety tips that will keep you and your family safe, especially while traveling.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for children up to the age of 15. Six out of 10 children killed in automobile crashes were not using vehicle safety restraints and almost 25 percent of motor vehicle-related fatal injuries are alcohol related.

During this holiday season, remember that it only takes a few seconds to fasten your seat belt and buckle up your child. These few seconds could be the difference between life and death.

By buckling your seat belt you increase the chance of surviving a crash by nearly 45 percent. Riding in a safety seat reduces the risk of death by at least 69 percent for infants and 47 percent for toddlers.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 11,773 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2008.

Make sure to make alternative arrangements for getting home from holiday celebrations. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Local and state law enforcement officers are mobilizing during Thanksgiving week, Nov. 20 through Dec. 1, for "Operation ABC - America Buckles Up Children."

Law enforcement officers will be protecting our kids by enforcing seat belt and child passenger safety laws, stopping impaired drivers and imposing harsh penalties on offenders.

For many years, California has been a leader in the movement for strong child-passenger safety laws.

Public opinion surveys show that nine out of 10 Americans support strong enforcement of child passenger safety laws. Their importance is, of course, magnified during heavy times of travel, such as the Thanksgiving weekend.

National Diabetes Awareness Month

Diabetes is a serious health problem facing Californians. More than 20 million Americans have diabetes, and an estimated 225,000 will die from it this year - including a disproportionate number of Latinos, African American, Asians and Native Americans. Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death by disease in the United States today.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes is a group of diseases marked by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Types of diabetes include Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes. Other types of diabetes result from specific genetic conditions, surgery, infections and other illness.

In 2008, there were 3.7 million Californians with diabetes, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). This means that one out of seven adult Californians (13.5 percent) has diabetes. Of these, 2.3 million (8.5 percent) are aware that they have diabetes, and about 1.4 million (5 percent) adults have undiagnosed diabetes, meaning that they are not yet aware.Ê

While there are sometimes obvious signs of diabetes, most people do not pay attention to the symptoms.

If you or a family member have symptoms, such as extreme thirst, blurry vision from time to time, frequent urination, unusual tiredness or drowsiness or unexplained weight loss, you should contact your doctor immediately. Pregnant women should be tested for diabetes between the fifth and sixth months of pregnancy.

A key step in improving health outcomes and quality of life for people with diabetes or people at risk for diabetes is self-management, education and training. Such education focuses on healthy eating, being active, monitoring blood sugar and learning problem-solving and coping skills needed to successfully self-manage the disease and its related conditions.

According to the CDPH, a national clinical trial conducted in 2002 demonstrated that Type 2 diabetes can be delayed or prevented by healthy lifestyle changes, including moderate weight loss and engagement in regular moderate-intensity physical activity.

This month, I encourage you to find out more about how to prevent diabetes or how to help people with diabetes. I'm a firm believer that education and prevention of diseases like diabetes is key in improving the quality of life for all.

To learn more about diabetes and how to prevent or manage diabetes, visit the California Department of Public Health's website at www.cdph.ca.gov.ÊÊ

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma is the speaker pro tempore at the California Assembly.