Thursday, March 23, 2006
USI is a strong community partner in Healthier Evansville events
 Lesa Cagle, USI assistant professor of nutrition and a member of the School Community Council, is chair of opening and closing events for the first annual Healthier Evansville Week, April 30- May 7. Healthier Evansville Week, announced by Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel in January, is designed to increase awareness of four key health areas: physical fitness, nutrition, prevention, and making healthy choices. “The whole event is being coordinated by the School Community Council with the goal of helping Evansville choose to live a healthier life,” Cagle said. “Our mission is to collaborate with community partners to provide programs and services which promote physical activity, proper nutrition, prevention and healthy life choices to positively impact the individuals and families of our community.” Departments in the USI College of Nursing and Health Professions will offer a wide variety of services and information at the opening event, a Health Fair from noon to 5 p.m. April 30 at Washington Square Mall. Food and Nutrition will provide nutrition information centering on the family and children. Occupational Therapy will present information on backpack safety and safe lifting. Dental Hygiene will have information on oral hygiene; Respiratory Therapy will provide lung screenings; and Nursing will demonstrate safe dog handling. Many businesses and community agencies will provide a variety of free health screenings including blood pressure, cholesterol, and body mass index, and smoking cessation information. “In Indiana, our statistics for risk factors for heart disease, including obesity and smoking, are not good,” Cagle said. “Our statistics in Vanderburgh County are higher than most of the state.” The Indiana Youth risk behavior survey of 2005 shows a statistically significant increase in weight of high-school-aged students from the 2003 survey. Fifteen percent of Indiana students are overweight and 14.3 percent are at risk for becoming overweight. The USI Physical Education Department and the YMCA will lead activities for children, including hopscotch, bean bag games, bowling, ring toss, horse shoes, shuffle board, croquet, and more. “The individual games are aimed at teaching children simple activities they can do at home,” Cagle said. Group activities will alternate hourly, and include noodle ball, waffle ball, ultimate Frisbee, and deck tennis. Adolescents will have the opportunity to climb Vertical eXcape’s rock wall. There also will be prize drawings, and the public can register for the two-mile race/walk/stroll to be held at the closing event, from 1 to 5 p.m. May 7 at Garvin Park. The trek starts and ends at Bosse Field. “The event is a beginning for our community. If we look at the lifestyle risk factors of obesity, smoking, poor diets and sedentary lifestyle, we can see a need to raise awareness of the consequences of these actions. Alone, obesity is associated with a greater risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol levels. All of these increase the risk for developing coronary heart disease, high levels of triglycerides, stroke, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, some types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.” Businesses, clubs, agencies, and neighborhoods are encouraged to sponsor their own health-related events during Healthier Evansville Week. In response, the USI Wellness Committee is sponsoring a “Lunch and Learn” program by Ann Stegall of Deaconess Web Center, “Finding Health Info on the Internet.” This program is free and open to students and employees, and will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, in Room 1006 of the Health Professions Center. For more information, contact Michelle Davis, benefits supervisor, at 464-1781. For more information about the Healthier Evansville initiative, go to www.healthierevansville.org. |
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