All posts by kdl143

Passionate about health and wellness? Apply to be a HealthWorks peer health educator

Do your friends turn to you for health advice?  Do you enjoy cooking healthy meals? Or are you looking to prepare yourself for a career in the health industry?  If any of these sound like you, you should consider becoming a peer health educator through HealthWorks. 

HealthWorks peer education program flyer HealthWorks is a three semester commitment for University Park students.  It requires one semester of training and two semesters of service on the UP campus. Training includes a three-credit class through the Department of Biobehavioral Health (BBH) during the Fall semester.  The course covers topics that will be helpful in your role as a peer health educator, like: health promotion theories and strategies and health issues, including alcohol and other drugs, sexual health, nutrition, physical activity, sleep and stress. Weekly meetings and outreach activities continue during the spring semester.

HealthWorks volunteers become active on campus, helping to coordinate and execute Safer Sex Parties and HIV test counseling.  Their various outreach activities raise awareness about topics like flu prevention, sustainability, and body image. Past projects have included campus walking maps, healthy cooking tutorial videos, and a healthy options cookbook that features fresh produce in its recipes.

Students interested in HealthWorks can apply by visiting http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/health/wellness/healthWorks.shtml starting Feb. 2.  The application window will be open until March 6.

Could Deleting Facebook Lead to Better Grades?

In our productivity-focused society, it’s not uncommon to hear people proudly call themselves multitaskers. But when it comes to academic success, multitasking may actually be more of a hindrance than a help. With computers and smartphones nearly everywhere, potential distractions for college students abound.

Among the most tantalizing distractions are social media platforms, which deploy phone and e-mail notifications to draw users in multiple times a day. These notifications may be good for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but not necessarily for your GPA.

New research suggests that college students who spend more time surfing Facebook, especially while studying or doing homework, may have lower grades. In a survey of 1,649 college undergraduates, a researcher at Iowa State University found that overall time spent using Facebook was associated with lower GPAs for freshmen, and time spent using Facebook while doing schoolwork (multitasking) was associated with lower GPAs for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. For seniors, who spent the least amount of time on Facebook, there didn’t appear to be a relationship between usage and GPAs.

If you’re curious to learn more (and aren’t just looking for a distraction from schoolwork), read the study here.

Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work

University Health Services is launching an effort to educate students about proper antibiotic use to prevent antibiotic-resistant infections this cold and flu season.

Please note, antibiotics will not help if you are ill with these viral infections:
• Cold
• Flu
• Acute bronchitis
• Runny nose
• Most coughs
• Most sore throats
• And most sinus and ear infections

If you are sick with one of these viral infections, ask your clinician which over-the-counter medicines will work best or visit UHS’ general medical advice page.

When used correctly, antibiotics are useful and important medicines. However, taking antibiotics when you don’t need them can increase a person’s risk of getting a resistant infection, which can call for more serious treatment, including hospital stays.

Antibiotic education poster

Give Yourself a (Study) Break: Six Ways to Relax and Recharge

Have you been hard at work studying for finals? Build in breaks so you can recharge and refresh between study sessions. Here are just a few ideas:

  • Breathe: Only have a few minutes? Try closing your eyes and taking some deep breaths. Breathe in slowly through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth, letting your stomach rise and fall.
  • Get moving: Break up long periods of sitting by getting up and moving around. Do some light stretching, jumping jacks, or go for a quick walk around the building.
  • Make time for friends: Build a group fitness class or lunch date into your schedule so you can unwind with others.
  • Play: Challenge a friend to a game of cards or bust out the coloring books and crayons for some quiet time. Studying at the library? Enjoy games, activities, and snacks at their Destress Fest from 12/14-12/17.
  • Visit the De-Stress Zone in 201 Student Health Center: Listen to relaxing music on iPod stations and practice relaxation techniques using biofeedback programs. Available on a walk-in basis whenever UHS is open.
  • Practice yoga: UHS offers free yoga classes through 12/11 (Tuesdays and Thursdays 4-5 pm in 205 Student Health Center). PSU Fitness also offers a variety of yoga classes for students with fitness memberships.

Advice from Take the Lead 2014: Know your limits

Penn State Take the Lead 2014
Penn State Take the Lead 2014

As part of the 2014 Take the Lead campaign, Off-Campus Student Union President Luke Amory recommends that students know their limits and stick to them.

This is great advice, but how do you figure out what limit to set? Understanding how alcohol affects the body may help you. Although it’s classified as a depressant drug, alcohol produces stimulant effects (a “buzz”) when consumed at low levels. After a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) rises above 0.06, alcohol’s depressant nature kicks in, producing the negative effects associated with drinking too much (ex. slurred speech and impaired motor skills).

So, if you choose to drink, keep your BAC below 0.06. To determine how many drinks per hour will put a person of your sex and weight at or around a 0.06 BAC, use the charts below. For example, if you are a female who is between 140 and 160 lbs., having two drinks or fewer per hour will help you avoid experiencing alcohol’s negative depressant effects. Click here for tips on how to stick to your limit.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Chart
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Chart

 

Eating Healthy during the Holidays

Thanksgiving and the winter holidays often mean family, friends, and plenty of food. Because holiday treats aren’t exactly known for their nutritional value, it can be tricky to maintain a healthy diet. Here are some tips to help you navigate your next holiday gathering:

  • Eat a healthy snack (try our yogurt parfait or trail mix) before a big meal or get-together. This can reduce the chance that you’ll overeat.
  • Take time to savor your food. Eat slowly so you can enjoy the flavors of your holiday favorites.
  • Give yourself time to re-assess your hunger before going back for seconds. Catch up with relatives or watch a favorite movie to stay occupied.
  • Quench your thirst with water (refreshing AND zero calorie) instead of beverages like cider or punch.
  • If you do overindulge, don’t despair! Move on and resolve to do better at the next gathering.

Advice from Take the Lead 2014: If you choose to drink, be smart about it

Penn State Take the Lead 2014
Penn State Take the Lead 2014

Zane Douglass, former President of the Council of Lionhearts, has a simple message to add to the 2014 Take the Lead campaign: if you choose to drink, be smart about it. This means using various strategies to take care of yourself and your friends. Let’s break down Zane’s advice point by point:

Eat beforehand: Eating a full meal before drinking is an effective way to slow your body’s absorption of alcohol. When you have food in your stomach, the digestion process slows down the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. It’s important to eat before and/or during drinking—eating after the fact won’t have any effect on blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

Drink plenty of water: Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning that it causes your body to lose water via increased urine production. Drinking water helps replenish lost fluids and prevents dehydration. Alternating alcoholic beverages with water or other non-alcoholic beverages is also an excellent strategy for pacing yourself and keeping your BAC low.

Stay with a group of friends you know will look out for you: It’s important to go out with friends that you know well and trust. Use the buddy system to check in on each other, hold each other accountable to drink limits, and make sure everyone gets home safely. And if a friend needs help for alcohol poisoning, one of you can call 911.

Student Leaders Encourage Others to “Take the Lead”

Five more student leaders are lending their voices to the Take the Lead campaign to encourage other students to make responsible decisions about drinking and involvement at Penn State. Now in its fifth year, the campaign features student leaders and their advice about staying safe, getting involved, and staying true to one’s goals and values.

The Take the Lead campaign is sponsored by the following student groups: University Park Undergraduate Association, Council of Commonwealth Student Governments, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, Off-Campus Student Union, Student Athlete Advisory Council, Area Residence Hall Associations and Council of Lionhearts.

Check out the album below to see posters featuring the following students:

  • Luke Amory (’16 Biomedical Engineering)
    President, Off-Campus Student Union
  • Meaghan DeMallie (’15 Marketing)
    President, Panhellenic Council
  • Zane Douglass (’14 Industrial Engineering)
    Former President, Council of Lionhearts
  • Raquel (Rocky) Rodriguez (’16 Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Management) Midfielder/Forward, Women’s Soccer Team
  • Bukola Toyobo (’16 Biology)
    Secretary, Student National Medical Association
    Program Assistant, The Ritner-Wolf Experience

Brian Cuban to Break Silence on Eating Disorders in Men

Eating disorders among boys and men have come to be known as a silent epidemic. While an estimated 10 million American men will struggle with a clinically significant eating disorder at some point in their lives, the issue isn’t widely addressed.

Penn State alum and best-selling author Brian Cuban is looking to change that. As part of UHS’s Love Your Body Week (October 27-31), Cuban will speak about his successful recovery from depression, 27 years of eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, and drug addiction. An advocate for mental health awareness, Cuban seeks to break the male eating disorder stigma and reassure others that recovery is possible.

The event is free of charge and will be held Monday 10/27 at 7 pm in the HUB Auditorium.

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Tips from the Sleep Sheep: 4 More Ways to Get More Zzzs

Are midterms stressing you out? Getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night can help. Not only does getting adequate sleep help you feel rested and more focused, but it also helps your brain to form memories, which comes in handy when you need to remember the stages of mitosis or the Spanish word for “textbook.”

These four tips from the Sleep Sheep can get you on your way to better sleep and better grades:

  1. Avoid tobacco, caffeine, and alcohol close to bedtime. sleep tipsNicotine and caffeine are stimulants and can keep you awake. Alcohol may make you feel sleepy, but it disrupts sleep later on in the night.
  2. Limit late night snacks. Eating or drinking too close to bedtime can make it difficult to sleep.
  3. Don’t let noise disrupt your sleep. Get free earplugs from 201 Student Health Center or run a fan to drown out noisy neighbors.
  4. Nap smarter. Limit daytime naps to 10-30 minutes during the midafternoon. Napping for longer or later in the day may make it harder to fall asleep at night.

For more tips, click here.