UNC Asheville has created a partnership with Asheville Middle School to engage students in physical exercises to promote better physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being.The focus of the Active Living Program was to engage students in healthy exercises that will improve their longevity, standard of living, and help reduce their risk for chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus Type II, coronary heart disease (CHD), and obesity, that have become more prevalent in recent years. After conducting physical exercise tutorials Monday through Friday over a 5-week period, we were able to increase physical activity levels and raise health awareness. A brief educational lesson on exercise science was included to explain how exercising is important to overall health and how particular exercises should be performed to reduce their risk for injury. By promoting physical exercise and acting as personal mentors, volunteers from UNC Asheville had the opportunity to empower students at Asheville Middle School to increase their weekly activity levels and be more conscious of how exercise affects their physiology. Research has shown that healthy lifestyle changes require encouragement, motivation, and knowledge of healthy alternative behaviors. After informing students about various exercises that improve their health and also be fun, they were excited and optimistic about continuing with the program in the future. Although we were not able to encourage every student to participate in the program, we believe that the program will gain more attention as our partnership with the school grows. Targeting physical health at a young level is essential for promoting lifelong healthy lifestyle behaviors.
