A healthier campus

Event offers advice to students on living a healthier life

Liberty University celebrated Healthy Campus Week Sept. 19-23 by hosting events to inform students of the existing opportunities to be healthy on campus.

The week began with a yoga class focused on teaching balance and the lengthening and strengthening of muscles, according to the Campus Recreation website.

Later in the week, an aroma class was offered to teach the use of essential oils to help take away stress.

At each event, raffle tickets were given to participants which offered them the chance to win a Fitbit or $100 gift card at the final event of the week.

A photo contest was held each day where students entered photos of their healthy meals using the hashtag #HCW2016 for the chance to win additional prizes.

Kristina DiSanto, registered dietician for the university, focused this week on healthier options.

“We want to bring to light the healthy dining options that this campus offers and provides,” DiSanto said.

According to DiSanto, the goal of the week was to enlighten students and help them become more aware of the choices they make, and how those choices affect other areas of their lives.

The different events and activities were offered to help get students more involved with this thought process.

Olivia Steele, a senior at Liberty, appreciated the week and seeing how Liberty cares about the health of its students.

“As a college student, I don’t have many resources to spare when it comes to being healthy,” Steele said.

“So it’s really nice that Liberty makes those options easily accessible and gives an entire week to helping me with those choices.”

A showing of the documentary “At the Fork” allowed students to see the meat production method in the United States.

According to the Campus Recreation website, this film helped enable students to identify the different methods in which animals are raised to produce the meat consumers purchase.

Liberty has been making some changes of its own to become healthier and provide healthier dining options for students.

Over the summer, the vegan and vegetarian dining services were revamped with more options.

The dining hall also uses icons to keep students mindful of the nutritional value in their food choices.

“We also have dietician picks out for students to see, and we are incorporating more local foods,” DiSanto said.

According to DiSanto, cooking demos are also held every month to show students how to integrate healthy cooking into their lives.

Also, currently in the works are labels to help show healthier vending options that will make it easier for students to identify the healthiest options.

The week wrapped up with a cardio kickboxing party where the winner of the raffle was also announced.

DiSanto hopes that from this week, students will realize that health and wellness is a concern for Liberty and something that factors into decision-making that takes place on campus.

whittaker is a feature reporter.