![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/files\/2011\/04\/DSC_1877.jpg\")
<\/a>Brooke Kelly<\/strong> Inspite of low attendance, this year\u2019s Annual Health and Wellness Fair had a plethora of useful information and resources to offer.<\/p>\n On April 8, the Walter Payton Center, the JSU Student Health Center and Latasha Norman Center,\u00a0combined\u00a0resources and contacts to host\u00a0their first combined health and wellness fair under the Office of Student Life.<\/p>\n Students, faculty and staff who came were able to receive services such as hearing tests, stress tests, and were able to find out information and services related to birth control, healthy eating, HIV support groups, depression, sexual assault, alcohol and drug dependency, home and vehicle energy efficiency and more.<\/p>\n Aaron Richardson, a graduate special education major from Laurel, Miss. who works in the Walter Payton, thinks students could learn a lot about being healthy by attending health fairs.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need to understand that being healthy and fit isn\u2019t just a physical thing, it\u2019s a mental thing. The mental should be just as nourished as the physical,\u201d said Richardson.<\/p>\n Natresica Garland, a senior psychology major from Humble, Texas, worked at the Applied Psychological Services Clinic booth.\u00a0 The APSC, in addition to the Latasha Norman Center, offers free confidential counseling services to staff and students.\u00a0 The APSC also offers psychological assessment, treatment, and other services to children, adults, and the elderly.<\/p>\n Garland suggests students who feel overwhelmed by problems should know that there are \u201ctwo\u00a0 wonderful, nonjudgmental, completely confidential places you can go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo one will ever know you went,\u201d said Garland.<\/p>\n Nyoki Morton, Assistant Director of Marketing and Special Events at the Payton Center, was part of the team in charge of organizing this year\u2019s Health and Wellness Fair.<\/p>\n \u201cOur overall goal at the WPC is to promote healthy living for faculty, staff, and students. The goal of the fair is to make sure they are fully informed on how to live healthy,\u201d said Morton.<\/p>\n The JSU Health Center staff offered blood pressure screenings, A1C tests for pre-diabetes, Body Mass Index (BMI) and weight readings. According to the nurses from the Health Center, early testing for diabetes is something frequently done in the Health Center.<\/p>\n Stephanie Payne, a doctor\u2019s assistant for Dr. D.A. Handy, an optometrist in Jackson, Miss., believes that getting your eyes checked is another way to find out if you have diabetes or high blood pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people can have diabetes and not even know it,\u201d Payne said.<\/p>\n The Mississippi State University Extension Service was one of the first booths students, faculty and staff could visit upon entering the health fair.\u00a0 They offered healthy eating tips based on the national government approved food pyramid.<\/p>\n Eugenia Smith works for the Extension Service and thinks it is vitally important for African-Americans to take the necessary health precautions to prevent diseases that commonly affect them.<\/p>\n She thinks people should check out www.mypyramid.gov for health tips. The site can offer personalized tips based on an individual\u2019s agenda, physical activity, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Brooke Kelly Staff Writer Inspite of low attendance, this year\u2019s Annual Health and Wellness Fair had a plethora of useful information and resources to offer.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nStaff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n