There are plenty of ways to get fit, and many of them were on display in the Spartan Center on Tuesday, March 11, at NCC’s annual “Fit for Life” health fair.
New to this year’s fair was Planned Parenthood of Northeast Pennsylvania’s “Condom Obstacle Course,” where contestants were invited to challenge their misconceptions about condom use with hands-on activities. The challenges were amusing, but the statistics on display were not: every year, 5,373 sexually transmitted diseases are diagnosed in Lehigh and Northampton counties, and in 2007, there were 977 unintended teen (ages 15-19) pregnancies in those same counties.
Also new to the fair were holistic practitioner Susan Brody, who offered a detoxifying footbath treatment (left) and flower-essence therapy, and Elizabeth Slusser of Devyne Therapy, who treated interested fair-goers to chair massages.
Other hands (and various body parts!)-on activities included an opportunity to simulate a .15 blood alcohol level by donning a pair of “beer goggles," courtesy of the Northampton County DUI Probation Program. The NCC Men’s Basketball team sponsored a Hoops Contest (below) where winners could score a Spartans T-shirt, and the Cycling Club challenged would-be cyclists to see how fast they could pedal a mile on a stationary bike.
St. Luke’s Hospital offered free cholesterol testing, blood pressure screening, and smoking cessation help. Pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Smith Kline also offered advice on quitting smoking, with a little help from their nicotine-replacement products. And if that wasn’t enough to get you to swear off cigarettes, the American Cancer Society had an informational table nearby!
Perennial NCC-fair favorite First State Greyhound Rescue (below) brought a colorful, tail-wagging assortment of elegant greyhounds, eager for an ear-scratch, head-pat, or just a bite of granola from your free yogurt parfait!
Other groups represented at the fair included NCC’s Christian Fellowship Club (“Are you fit for eternal life?” their poster inquired), Crime Victims of the Lehigh Valley, Advanced Foot Care, the Latino Outreach Program, LV Vegetarians, GoJi Juice, and the Appalachian Mountain Club.
