Penn State Berks students majoring in kinesiology will be working with Penn State Health St. Joseph and My Gut Instinct, Inc. at the annual Guts & Glory Digestive & Wellness Expo. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, (rain date: Sunday, Oct. 9) at the First Energy Stadium in Reading, Pennsylvania. The expo is free and open to the public.
The Penn State Berks Kinesiology Department will have an exhibition booth where upper-level students will perform fitness assessments including measuring posture, flexibility and balance. Kinesiology students will also assess body mass index, body fat, visceral fat level, skeletal muscle percentage, resting metabolism rate, and body age using the Omron body composition scale. Students will then discuss the assessment results with those tested.
The exhibition booth will also provide information regarding the study of kinesiology and the importance of moving and being physically active, as well as information about the Penn State Berks kinesiology degree program.
“This is the perfect opportunity for our students to relay information that they have been learning and to educate others,” stated Helen Hartman, senior lecturer in kinesiology at Penn State Berks.
In addition, Penn State Berks Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Chapter members will be volunteering their time during the event. PRSSA members will be stationed at different interactive booths and presentations to encourage the public to take part in all the activities.
The Guts & Glory Digestive & Wellness Expo is the brainchild of Dr. Aparna Mele, the founder of My Gut Instinct, Inc. Mele’s passion is educating the public about digestive health and overall wellness. The expo is billed as an “exciting journey of wellness education, nutritional awareness, and health consciousness.”
"From the digestive standpoint, most diseases of the digestive system are related to what we eat and the weight we carry," said Dr. Aparna Mele, organizer of the event in an interview. "Maybe once a year we have a big festival to take stock of what we eat."
The expo emphasizes digestion and nutrition. The approach is to provide people with the knowledge of current diagnostics and treatments of gastrointestinal disease, encourage them to seek medical care, and empower them to take action to live healthier lives.
This event will feature expert lectures on nutrition, fitness, and healthy living; kid targeted zones on healthy eating and exercise; free health screenings; massage stations; a farmer’s market; healthy food, and live music.
My Gut Instinct, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization founded by Mele, produces the expo, promoting community awareness of health and wellness through preventative health and holistic wellness being. Penn State Health St. Joseph is the main event sponsor of the event.
For more information about the Guts & Glory Digestive & Wellness Expo, visit MyGutInstinct.org.
