Bone marrow registration and rock-climbing nurses were both featured at the Health and Wellness Festival at Plaza Vaquero on March 16.
The Associated Students held this first-time festival as a way to promote health and well-being and to educate students about their eating habits and daily lifestyles. Loud pop music attracted visitors to the booths, but the 24-foot rock wall was the main attraction.
From 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the booths from the Student Nursing Association (SNA), the Health Department and ASGCC were found stringed along Plaza Vaquero. ASGCC members gave out free health snacks and stress balls in the shape of light bulbs, and held hula hoop contests.
“People underestimate the importance of what they eat,” said Yna Mokhtarians, vice president of campus activities. “We want to emphasize how important exercising is.”
According to Karla Santillano, 21, a nursing major, SNA helped spread health awareness by educating people about hypertension and high blood pressure.
Students in the nursing program came out in their white and maroon uniforms and invited all to have their blood pressure taken. Nurses gave advice to students and faculty if their blood pressure was too high or low, and recommended them to the health care center for more information.
When nurses weren’t busy guiding others, they were found 24 feet above ground on the rock wall, having fun while educating others.
Jen Halliday, a nutrition and kinesiology major, said that the rock wall caught her attention and attracted her to the activities in Plaza Vaquero. It was what she missed most from PE 102, which she couldn’t fit into her schedule. She said the information was applicable to her major.
Faculty member Barbara Erfurt, from the health department and in charge of the health care centers booth, said “one of the most important goals is to get students aware that they need to be proactive in a society in which it’s easier not to be. They should ask the doctor questions about their health and understand their body.”
She went on to further say that there are different guidelines and factors for losing, maintaining and building body weight, and that “if it was easy there wouldn’t be an obesity crisis.”
People at the health booth handed out free pedometers while recommending that others should take about 10,000 steps for a structured exercise session, compared to the average person who takes about 3,000 a day.
With free healthy snacks, blood pressure testing, and an information station, students, faculty and staff received a hearty festival for health awareness.
For more ASGCC information call (818) 240- 1000 ext. 5783, or visit www.glendale.edu/as.
