HEALTH FAIR FEATURES BIT OF ASIA.

Byline: Leilani Albano Daily News Staff Writer

Some days, 76-year-old Yuhueng Yuan, of Northridge, said she could barely endure the bouts of pain from her aching joints. Thanks to a team of Shiatsu acupressurists, the once avid swimmer received much-needed relief for her arthritic body, she said.

Yuan was among the hundreds of Valley residents who converged Saturday at the 6th annual Asian-Pacific Islander Family Health and Cultural Day Fair in Pacoima.

Sponsored by the Asian and Pacific Islander Council of the San Fernando Valley, the daylong festivities provided health information as well as an array of free health services that included diabetes screenings, immunizations, mammograms and HIV testing.

Attracting as many as 1,000 people, the health fair, which took place at the historic San Fernando Valley Japanese-American Center, was one way to reach out to the increasing number of Asian-Americans in the Valley, officials said.

Home to a diverse population of foreign language speakers, organizers conducted services in English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Tagalog and Spanish.

Volunteers from health service organizations set up vendor booths at the center's gymnasium, where they passed out leaflets and talked to eventgoers.

One of them was Kristina Hae Chung of the Asian AIDS Intervention Team in Los Angeles, who said she encounters reluctance among some Asian-Americans in discussing the disease.

``People are still hush-hush with AIDS, even if they are acculturated,'' she said.

At the south end of the gym, Thai musicians, Vietnamese martial arts students and traditional Indian dancers entertained the cheering audience.

Families lined up at the courtyard for a free serving of Asian dishes, including cholesterol-free papaya salad, compliments of the Thai Health and Information Services Inc.

Nongyao Varanond, president of the Hollywood-based organization, offered participants holiday cooking advice. They could start by using healthy meat substitutes: ``Eat peanuts for protein,'' said Varanond, ``dried shrimp is OK, but in small amounts.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1) Jianxia Zhu, 80, gets a flu shot from Jaimin Kim at Asian-Pacific Islander Family Health and Cultural Day Fair.

(2) The Fujima Seiyumi Kai dance group for girls 7 to 9 performs at Saturday's health fair.

(3) Frank Tanaka, right, and Don Yamada cook up yaki soba to give free to visitors to the fair in Pacoima.

David R. Crane/Daily News