MEDIA ADVISORY: Nintendo Wii ® Contests, Zumba® Classes, Health Screenings Will Help Rutgers Students Shape Up

Editors: You Are Invited to Cover the April 13 Rutgers Fitness Fair at Rutgers, Newark

On April 13, from1-4 p.m., the campus will host “RU FIT: Let’s Get Physical,” aimed at waking up students to health dangers such as obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.  The day will combine activities designed to get students on their feet and working their hearts — such as a boot camp, fitness demonstrations, and Zumba® lessons — with health screenings, nutritious snacks and informational resources.  Since this year’s fair is the same day as the campus’s celebration of “Greek life” by its fraternities and sororities, some of their planned competitions, such as foot races and a tug of war, will add some new elements to the fair.

The program will take place on the Norman Samuels Plaza and on the Woodward Hall lawn on Bleeker Street (between University Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (rain location: the Golden Dome Athletic Center, Warren Street and University Avenue).  The fair is open to Rutgers students – as well as faculty and staff – free of charge.

Many college students don’t realize that health problems are striking growing numbers of their peers, thanks to too many unhealthy snacks and foods, too little sleep and exercise, and other poor health choices, explain health education specialist Marie Attis and senior health education specialist Theresa Tantay-Wilson, Rutgers Department of Health Promotion.  But since 2002, Rutgers has been trying to reverse that tide through its fall semester “RU HEALTHY” fair and its spring semester RU FIT fair. Both are interactive, educational yet entertaining programs designed to promote smart choices about factors that impact wellness.

MEDIA MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE.