Soon after the Dietetics Department launched a walking club for 91制片厂在线观看 students and employees, the 15 new members logged a collective 154 miles in one month.
鈥淲e walked to downtown Houston,鈥 quipped Dr. Rachel Fournet, an assistant professor of dietetics. 鈥淲hen we get to Hawaii, we鈥檒l have a luau.鈥
Fournet, a registered dietician, was motivated to start the club last spring, after seeing a report that pegged Louisiana as having the highest obesity rates in the nation.
For members, it鈥檚 about more than simply lacing up a pair of walking shoes for 30 minutes, two or three times each week. The club promotes healthier lifestyles through walking, proper diet and nutritional counseling, or, 鈥渁 cycle of improved health, one little step at a time,鈥 as Fournet refers to it.
鈥淥nce you start walking, you鈥檙e going to feel better,鈥 she explained. 鈥淭he body鈥檚 oxygenated. You鈥檙e building glycogen stores in muscle, and you鈥檙e going to want to eat better.鈥
Members can walk anywhere they choose, but several predetermined routes on campus have been measured for convenience. One lap around the Quad, for instance, is half a mile.
Total distances walked are reported weekly to the Dietetics Department in Hamilton Hall or the Kinesiology Department in Bourgeois Hall. Members also email photos showing the mileage displays on their pedometers, GPS devices or treadmills. Walkers are encouraged, but not required, to exercise in pairs or groups, for moral support and accountability. 鈥淎lone, you鈥檙e going to find excuses,鈥 Fournet said.
To join the free club, members sign a consent form, and in some cases, are required to get medical approval. New members are given a health assessment by UL Lafayette dietetics students, and receive a nutritional screening to ascertain caloric intake and nutritional habits. Students also calculate the body mass index of members, gauging height, weight and body fat percentages.
Progress reports are provided every three months. 鈥淲e all have something we could improve. It鈥檚 not really about being a certain weight, it鈥檚 nutritional soundness. Do you have antioxidants? Are you preventing cancer? Heart disease? We are proactive,鈥 Fournet said.