Kyle Lowe/The Collegian
The University Dining Hall was occupied with students, faculty and staff Wednesday afternoon for the annual Wellness Fair.
The Health Promotion and Wellness Services Department through the Student Health Center and the Public Health Department host the event each semester.
Public health major Hannah Day, Family PACT peer health education student coordinator, greeted visitors for three hours as they walked through the Wellness Fair.
“The students in the Public Health 133 class put together their own projects ”” creating booths in regard to health topics related to college students,” Day said.
The Wellness Fair is aimed to motivate and help students reach an overall great health. Some booths highlighted sexual health, diet and nutrition, skin care, dental hygiene and stress.
The 2011 Wellness Fair follows the annual Spring Break Extravaganza last Wednesday afternoon. The two events are aimed at motivating students to take a deeper look at their overall health.
Day said the Spring Break Extravaganza is typically held two weeks prior to spring break, and focuses on providing safe alternatives for students staying in Fresno.
Health goes beyond being physically well. Health also stretches to being well mentally and emotionally.
An employee from the Psychological Services at the Student Health Center was present to give away bookmarks and brochures educating students on the options beyond physical health.
Food and science nutrition majors were on-hand with several presentation boards demonstrating what specific routes to take for students who want to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet.
Graduate student and dietetics intern Ashley Larsen was one of the students who worked at the “Time for an oil change” booth.
“We are trying to promote healthy fats versus unhealthy fats,” Larsen said. “Basically we’re trying to help people indentify what sources of fats they should be consuming.”
Larsen added that plant sources of fat are healthier than animal sources. Plant sources of monounsaturated fat can be found in olives and avocados.
“We are also indentifying some of the foods on campus that are really high in fat,” Larsen said.
Food and science nutrition major Danielle Kaprielian promoted the “Diet Trackers” booth along with several other students. The booth was designed to bring awareness to students about the calories consumed on a daily basis.
“An easy way to track it is the new iPhone applications and Droid applications,” Kaprielian said.
Kaprielian said students who don’t have an iPhone or Droid could sign up at the websites, www.livestrong.com and www.myfitnesspal.com, to enter specific information to calculate calories.
“It’s just important to bring awareness of actually the calories you put in your body,” Kaprielian said. “A lot of people don’t realize they’re consuming too many calories and that’s causing weight gain.”
The Wellness Fair launches each semester for new public health majors to promote and share their knowledge about having an overall good health.
“It’s so interactive,” Day said. “There’s just a lot of good information that students are going to take with them past today.”