On Wednesday afternoon, the East Gym was filled with preschoolers wobbling into yoga stretches and students powering blenders by riding stationary bikes in celebration of the ninth annual Health Fair.
Hosted by Campus Recreation and Sodexo Dining Services, the event filled two floors of the East Gym in order to fit all 81 campus and community vendors participating, which included Lourdes Hospital, the Eating Awareness Committee and Real Education About College Health. The Health Fair was originally created by Sodexo to promote healthy choices, and last year was the first time Sodexo partnered with Campus Rec.
Alexa Schmidt, the co-coordinator of the Health Fair and dietitian for Binghamton University, said the Health Fair was a one-stop shop to learn about physical, emotional, sexual and mental health. Physical health activities included fitness demos and health screenings. Interpersonal Violence Prevention was among organizations providing emotional support, and sexual health resources offered information about condom varieties.
“I looked for a variety of community resources, campus resources, food and drink and fitness,” Schmidt said. “It’s not just food and it’s not just fitness, but looking at overall health and wellness.”
Many students surrounded the free food and drinks offered by Sodexo, like Boar’s Head, Hissho Sushi and Yolato, which is the frozen yogurt offered on campus.
Group fitness demonstrations also drew a large crowd and participants, as students tried out different fitness routines such as yoga. A favorite routine was put on by a BU Taekwondo class, where students of many different levels and ranks sparred with one another and demonstrated their punches and kicks.
“I saw the little kids doing yoga and that was really cute,” said Tiffany Lu, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience. “It’s really good that they get the community involved in these events because we’re known as such a college town.”
According to Schmidt, the main difference from last year’s event was Jim Donovan, a drummer from Rusted Root, hosting drum circles throughout the event in which students could participate. Schmidt attended one of his drumming events and reached out to him after enjoying the program.
“People don’t always connect the drum circle with wellness,” Schmidt said. ”But there’s a lot of research out there showing that it can help with stress reduction as well as creating a sense of community and fun.”
Thomas Sullivan, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said that he has been to the Health Fair each year since attending BU, but that this year was his favorite because of the sense of community.
“People need to see how important health is,” Sullivan said. “This gives them opportunities to see how they can be healthier and what they can do to make small, simple changes in their life which can be better for them.”