Approximately one out of every five American students is obese, a number that’s likely to grow within the next few years. However, three HOSA competitors on campus hope to reduce this number through their efforts in spreading awareness and advising healthy living habits across our school.

“For the Community Awareness competition, we decided to choose nutrition as our topic because we believed it is something that is often overlooked, especially for those with busy lifestyles,” junior Tanya Shiramagond said. “To spread awareness about nutrition, we hosted an informational stand in the rotunda before school that consisted of a display board with information about necessary nutrients and we had students complete a survey about their eating habits. We also created snacks to show that good food can be healthy as long as the right ingredients are used in the right quantities.”

The group aims to help students make healthy decisions that they believe will benefit them in the long run.

“Lack of awareness and ignorance tend to be the key causes of a lot of diseases and illnesses so if we can reinforce tips and information about nutrition, we’re that much closer to preventing health related issues,” junior Kanika Kappalayil said. “If we could take some time to slow down and digest what it is we’re putting in our body and how it affects our long term health, we can be much more productive and efficient individuals.”

With students at our campus spending most of their time in a highly stressful environment, the group hopes to shine light on selfcare needs that most tend to neglect.

“As high schoolers, everyone is so engrossed in their work, so it can be difficult for many of us to stop and really think about what we’re eating,” Shiramagond said. “We tend to eat whatever is convenient and prefer not to spend time searching for healthy food, so a lot of what we need depends on our parents but by being informed, we hope that students will make healthier choices regarding nutrition.”

Along with advocating a healthy lifestyle, the group looks forward to showcasing all their work at competition to demonstrate their findings.

“We hope that we spread awareness about nutrition to the community because it’s important to be educated about nutrition because what we eat directly impacts our body,” junior Haniah Bashir said. “We all feel excited for competition because we have worked diligently to produce quality work that we hope the judges will enjoy.”