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With health care costs on campus and across the country on the rise, living healthier in all areas of life is needed, said Caroline Shugart, USU employee dietitian.
"My biggest concern is that we've got a lot of obesity and that's driving health care costs, and when you get a child with diabetes when they're 12 and think what diabetes can do to a body over a 30 year span - all the horrible stuff that comes with sickness," Shugart said.
In an effort to prevent illness and rising health care costs where she can, Shugart was hired last October for the purpose of improving the health of employees on campus. But she said she came here with a broader mission that encompassed improving the health of all individuals on campus.
To do this, she said she formed a wellness committee made up of herself representing the employees, Brooke Stuart a student majoring in nutrition and food sciences, and MarLee Harris, the dietitian from the Health and Wellness Center, to meet the students' needs.
With this committee, she established a program for improved health called the Be Well program.
"Be Well is trying to look at all our resources," Shugart said. "We have financial planning, we have exercising, we have a health fair."
A visit to the Be Well or Employee Wellness Program Web site, www.usu.edu/hr/wellness, shows multiple options to improve overall health, many of which were started since Shugart came to campus. These include the Aggie Walking Club, which is frequented by Joyce Albrecht, a fitness assessment, personal training, nutrition programs, health fairs and discount programs.
Another option is the Fun, Fit and Forever program that is hosted by campus recreation. This program includes free activities for students that include yoga, pilates, spinning, aerobics, jazzercise, water aerobics and even snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. There is no open enrollment or registration for these classes, and they begin the week of Jan. 14.
"Campus recreation is a fantastic resource for students for all the exercise," Shugart said.
The Be Well program also sponsors health fairs and expos, Shugart said, including a health and nutrition expo on Feb. 29. She said the Be Well program provided some financial backing to support the program.
"Any time there's an important thing on campus that would benefit employee wellness, we want to be supportive," Shugart said.
Besides working as the employee wellness coordinator, Shugart has also been a registered dietitian for more than 20 years and a registered nurse for 10 years. Working part time as a nurse at Logan Regional doing dialysis, Shugart said her background has given her greater understanding of what it takes to be healthy and the damaging effects that come from living unhealthy lifestyles.
To prevent a life of sickness that she so often sees, Shugart said students should decide now to be healthy and take the steps necessary to prevent illness.
"I noticed in the paper a New Year's resolution. I saw five out of six said to get healthy, or exercise or eat right," Shugart said.
To help members of the USU community to meet those resolutions, Shugart said there are "some main habits that we would like to see all students and employees do. Maybe we'll call them five healthy habits that would have a great difference in disease prevention."
1. 30-60 minutes of exercise a day, every day. Shugart said this exercise does not have to be all at once but can be cumulative and that it doesn't have to be something strenuous. Something as simple as walking can be added into that exercise total, she said.
"In fact, walking is one of the most widely done activities that is sustainable. We want sustainable things," she said.
2. Drink water. Shugart said six to eight cups of water a day is essential to a healthier lifestyle. She said simple fluids like soda and juice are not enough. Water is the staple.
3. Get plenty of sleep.
"Another habit that would be fantastic is seven to eight hours of sleep," Shugart said. "For top functioning and maintenance, they're finding people need to take care of the body's sleep needs."
Shugart said she has read some recent studies that reported those who get less sleep tend to have a higher body weight.
4. Cut the junk food and eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
"Another thing would be fruit and vegetables, every snack, every meal," Shugart said. "It's easier to take that to class. They're cheap."
Some suggestions she makes include a little bag of carrots, celery, cauliflower or any combination, or a salad with low-calorie dressing.
Eating whole grains whenever possible is another healthy food choice, Shugart said, as well as avoiding the refined flour items like white bread and instead go for whole wheat bread and pasta. She said even at the Hub there are places to get whole wheat options, like a slice of whole wheat bread at Hazels with half the amount of jam.
5. Wear a seat belt and a helmet.
By following these five guidelines, Shugart said students and employees can take great steps to improving their overall health, but it will take effort and support from many people around campus to make this happen.
"I think we need more role models, people willing to stand out on the edge and show people a better way, another option," Shugart said. "You don't have to lead a life of sickness.
"It's a huge undertaking and we need role models and help from everyone willing and able."
-seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu
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