June 19, 2019, Toms River, NJ – In honor of National Eat Your Vegetables Day, observed annually on June 17th, the Toms River campus hosted a Health Fair open to students, faculty, and the public. At the Health Fair, American Institute provided a variety of healthy vegetables and foods for all attendees to enjoy, promoting healthy eating habits in the spirit of the day.
“National Eat Your Vegetables Day was a great opportunity for us to remind our students of the importance of eating healthy, which they can apply to both themselves and their future patients’ diets,” shared Tim Rodgers, Toms River Campus President. “So much of effective healthcare is about helping patients to prevent disease wherever they can, and diet is a key component of that for things like cardiovascular disease or diabetes.”
June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month, with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables available through the summer and fall. Enticing and encouraging people in our #AIFamily community to take full advantage of the seasonal offerings was a key theme to the day. Our communities today struggle with eating a healthy diet, which contributes to an associated increase in obesity-related diseases (e.g. diabetes). For example, an article from 2017 projects diabetes will increase by 54% from 2015 to 2030, making this a critical time to intervene with education and awareness.
Students from each program also provided activity stations for attendees that reflected their area of study, including chair massages from massage therapy students, blood pressure screenings from medical assisting students, and oral health demonstrations from dental assisting students.
“Allowing our students to practice the skills they’ve been studying with the public provides them with the opportunity to get real world experience in their field. By this hands-on practice, students gain valuable insights into real-life applications of the skills they’re being taught as well as the ‘soft skills’ of patient interaction that today’s employers are looking for,” commented CFO Stephen Schwartz. “Attendees raved about the quality of the massages and their positive interactions with the students.”
