Under the Student Health and Counseling Services, the Health and Wellness Promotion department offers cooking demonstrations twice a month to encourage healthy lifestyles.

“Within Health and Wellness Promotion we offer services pertaining to mental health, nutrition, alcohol, tobacco & other drugs, and sexuality & reproductive health,” said health educator Jennifer Burton. “This is provided through interactive presentations, outreach and education, and campus events. We also have a peer health educator program, providing education & outreach on a peer-to-peer level.”

Most of these services are covered by the SHCS health fee which is included in tuition, but some carry additional charges.

These charges may apply toward specialty services, procedures, lab work, vaccines and prescriptions.

To raise awareness for National Nutrition Month, the nutrition department celebrated with interactive tabling, cooking demonstrations, contests with nutrition-related prizes and posts of healthy facts or information on SHCS’s social media during the month of March.

In addition to cooking demonstrations, the department also promotes healthy lifestyles by providing individual nutrition counseling, interactive presentations, diet analysis and WIN, a four week Healthy Nutrition Program offered during spring semester.

Students can receive nutritional counseling for issues such as weight management, high blood pressure, eating disorders, diabetes, healthy eating and meal planning.

Nutritionist and registered dietitian Jennifer Campbell strives to help students develop healthy and nutritious habits that will help them be successful during college and throughout their lives.

“By developing healthy habits now, we can prevent chronic health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity,” Campbell said. “If a person has a specific goal, from studying for an exam to running a marathon, I want their health to help them reach that goal, not impede it.”

SHCS is looking for peer health educators for the upcoming school year.

It is a year-long internship focusing on one of the four programs (mental health, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, nutrition, and healthy relationships).

“Peer health educators are found conducting presentations, workshops, and supporting health and wellness events,” Burton said.

They present information through interactive tabling, classes and organizations.

Presentations include Nutrition Jeopardy, Healthy Eating While in College, Food and Mood, and cooking demonstrations.

These cooking demonstrations are conducted by nutrition peer health educators twice a month and focus on various themes around holidays or time of year.

Senior nutrition and dietetics major Stephanie Martinez and senior psychology major Monica Mejia have been working as interns in the nutrition department. Martinez and Mejia conducted an April Fools’ Day cooking demonstration, where they taught a group of people how to make black bean burgers and banana berry ice cream.

“[The internship] is unique because it provides more hands-on learning experiences when you’re doing things like conducting cooking demos,” Martinez said.

If interested, the Health and Wellness Promotion Department Peer Health Educator program is accepting applications on their website at shcssacstate.org/wellness-promotion/peer-health-education-internships.

Applications for the internship are due April 24.

They also conduct interactive presentations for organizations and classes.

Contact the Health Wellness and Promotion Department by phone at (916) 278–5422 or visit them at their office by The WELL if interested.