WSU Participates in National Nutrition Month

By, Jenn Weldy

March is National Nutrition Month and the Washington State University Wellbeing program and dining services have partnered to launch the first “Find Your Balance Challenge” campaign across campus—one they hope will continue for years to come.
“Our goal is to give every individual an opportunity for them to find their own balance between healthy [eating] and exercise as part of their physical wellbeing,” Whitney Mueller, Staff Assistant for Dining Services, said. “We thought National Nutrition Month would be a good time for that.”
Mueller organized the program in collaboration with Dining Services’ Registered Dietitian, Annie Roe, WSU Employee Wellbeing Coordinator, Brad Stewart, and Associate Director of University Recreation, Joanne Greene. Mueller said they aren’t trying to get students to work out every day and only eat healthy food; they just want to give students tools to help them each find their personal balance.
Young adult health and wellbeing recently earned so much concern that it was noted in a special feature in the 2008 United States health report that read, “the period between ages 18 and 29 sets the foundation for future health behaviors and health status, and may be the time in life when health education and preventive care may arguably have their greatest impact.”
“I think it’s a little bit of a personal mission for all of us. We really care about that stuff so we wanted to do something for the students to show them that,” Mueller said.
The program challenges students to track their nutritional and physical habits throughout March with stamp cards, according to the WSU press release. It states that the completed cards will be entered in a raffle April 3 for several prizes, including an iPod Shuffle and cash.
Mynutrition.wsu.edu provides nutrition label information for foods offered in the dining halls, and other nutritional information. “Annie built that whole thing herself,” Mueller said about the website. Mueller said Roe has done a lot to communicate with students about new and existing healthy options on campus.
For WSU student Ronnie Fontenot, 25, wellbeing is “more than just eating right, it’s also living right, being a good person and keeping low stress.” He said that attitude and mental health influence physical wellbeing, and that’s why it is important to realize that a healthy lifestyle includes a “sharp mind not bogged down by negativity.”
WSU student Kaley Porter, 20, agrees, and said, “I feel better as a student if I am physically and emotionally content with myself.”
According to the WSU Recreation website, WSU promotes a holistic approach to wellbeing that includes emotional, environmental, financial, occupational, physical, social and spiritual dimensions.
The recreational center offers a wide variety of activities ranging from an hour to several days that challenge the mind and body, including yoga classes, rock climbing and several outdoor adventures, according to “Play,” the spring 2009 program guide for university recreation.
Gail Sterns, director of The Common Ministry at WSU led two free stress relief workshops earlier this week for all community members. According to a WSU press release for the sessions, for the last ten years, Stern has been “researching and practicing mindfulness and spiritual centering as stress relief techniques for daily life.”
The press release quoted Sterns: “in my own life, putting into practice research on waking up and becoming aware of the present is the most authentic way I have found to deal with grief and stress.”
The workshops were sponsored by The Common Ministry, Health and Wellness Services, and Counseling and Testing Services.
For information about the Find Your Balance Challenge and other wellbeing workshops and activities, visit wellbeing.wsu.edu, dining.wsu.edu and urec.wsu.edu.