Fitness program plans to reshape student health | The Bell Ringer

JILLIAN HOBDAY | STAFF
Georgia Regents students work out on elliptical machines at the Wellness Center at the Health Sciences campus, an example of exercise promoted by the fitness program.

By Karl Frazier, Correspondent

With the number of unhealthy students continuing to rise, one fitness program is taking action to solve the problem.

Kaelan Woodall, a senior nursing student and chair of a student wellness and intramural committee at Georgia Regents University, said the idea of the Student Health Initiative developed after noticing a limited amount of opportunity for students.

?There were no programs to incentivize fitness or wellness,? Woodall said. ?I thought what better way to get people up and get them motivated than to have a little bit of healthy competition amongst students.?

The initiative will give students the possibility of winning money, getting free stuff and losing weight at the same time, Woodall said. The program?s main goal is for students to get healthier. Because the program is health oriented, Woodall said the program is not just about losing weight.

Woodall started the program in October 2012. After getting the approval from her advisors, Woodall said she received help from the marketing and IT program to start a website. Eventually, the program received a lot of support from the community, including both campuses.

?We have been getting support from the administrators because it is the first (Georgia Regents) initiative, and it?s all student led,? Woodall said. ?We have gotten funds from the (Student Government Association), college of Nursing (and) College of Medicine. We have gotten a lot of support from them.?

While being healthy involves losing weight, Woodall said there are other steps a person must take to be healthy, facets of health involving nutrition, mental health and cardiovascular wellness. Although some people are smaller in weight, Woodall said a person who is small can still be unhealthy because of bad exercise habits, poor quality of eating and may even have high blood pressure. Woodall also said that because a person has a higher body mass index, it doesn?t mean that they are not healthy, but they have a different body structure and metabolism.

Meagan David, a senior nursing student at Georgia Regents, said she joined the program because it fit in with her way of life.

?Wellness and fitness is something I am really passionate about,? David said. ?I love working out and being outdoors. With a lot of people being in the nursing program, medical and ASU we can let (exercising) get away from us. I thought this would be a great way to get everybody to be a little healthier.?

David said she believes a lot of people are unhealthy out of convenience, such as getting a quick meal from the school campus or stopping at a fast-food restaurant and giving excuses for not going to the gym. David said she believes a lot of people are stressed out because they are not exercising enough.

The program is going to have manuals and logbooks so that people can write down their BMI, blood pressure, etc., Woodall said.

Woodall said people should start being healthy before they enter college. She said if they could get started now, they won?t have to worry about taking a lot of pills when they get older. Faculty members have been impressed with the program?s success.

?I have been so amazed at what Kaelan and her group has done,? said Gayle Bentley, an associate professor in the College of Nursing at Georgia Regents. ?What she is doing is using a lot of social networking and to advertise and create that team competition.?

Source: http://www.asubellringer.com/fitness-program-plans-to-reshape-student-health/

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