Diamond Jenkins
Blue & White Flash /Associate Editor
Information on everything from vision, heart disease and HIV to organ donations, high blood pressure and healthy eating was provided at the Annual Wellness Fair, sponsored by Student Health Services, the Walter Payton Recreation and Wellness Center, Latasha Norman Center for Counseling and Disability Services, and the Division of Student Life at Jackson State University.
This year’s fair attracted approximately 200 individuals and was part of a week-long Fit Fest designed to focus on obesity awareness in Mississippi. Fit Fest started on Monday with zumba exercises and healthy cooking demonstrations, and will continue through Saturday where runners and walkers are welcome to participate in the 7th Annual Sweetness Fight Against Obesity 5K Run/Walk.
Partnering with the fair’s on-campus organizers as sponsors were Central Mississippi Health Services, St. Dominic Hospital, Wal-Mart, Chic-Fil-A in Clinton, Miss., My Brother’s Keeper, and the JSU Bookstore.
One of the most popular stops was for free screenings for cholesterol, Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), blood pressure and blood sugar testing.
Janine Evans, an education major from Sandiego,Calif., attended the fair and thinks in order to be healthy, you have to change your diet.
“I want to be more healthy, but I need help sometimes. As a routine, from personal experience, I have done a ‘Low-Carb and Regular Fat’ intake diet in the short term until you reach my weight goals. Back home, my family does a lot of running and exercising together, so having a workout buddy would help obtaining a healthier lifestyle.”
Keith Tobin, a junior mass communications major from Joliet, Ill. thinks that being in shape physically is beneficial to a healthy college lifestyle.
“If there is one thing that you should aim for in life above all else, it’s being as healthy as you can be. With good health, everything else you get can be enjoyed to the fullest. Without your health, life can be a miserable struggle, or seem that way,” said Tobin.
In addition to health information, volunteers from various community organizations like the American Red Cross, Mississippi Organ Recovery, and Building Bridges also were on hand.
Sue Toupes and Cameron Fox, both American Red Cross Mississippi volunteers, think young people should be more knowledgeable about maintaining their health.
“Being healthy gets to be a lifetime project for you. It gets to be a lifetime endeavor and everyone benefits from a healthy lifestyle,” said Fox.
Troups, who was seeking Red Cross volunteers, added: “Ignorance keeps students from keeping up with their health. They are afraid to find out results and like to be in denial. Most of the times they don’t know where they can get help.”
Dr. Samuel Jones, Jr., Jackson State’s Health Center University physician, thinks that maintaining good health is about more than exercising.
“There is such a cliché’ to being healthy and getting fit. We can’t measure our health without meeting those benchmarks of health. Living in a culture where certain habits are normal and then look at places like China that doesn’t have an issue with weight,” said Dr. Jones, “It’s far more than obesity. Being healthy is not only about physical health, it includes your psychological health.”
Proceeds from Saturday’s “Sweetness” Fight Against Obesity 5K Run/Walk and One Mile Fun Run will go to the Live Well Membership Fund. The fund awards annual scholarships to children to attend JSU’s Camp Tiger Tails summer day camp and memberships to qualified candidates who are obese and/or diagnosed with obesity-related illnesses. The Live Well Membership Fund provides access to preventive health care and personal health management through fitness, education, and weight management programs at the Walter Payton Center.
