Cal State Long Beach’s fourth annual Health Fair will be held outside of the University Student Union on Feb. 24 between 11 a.m. and noon to encourage students to practice healthier habits even as college students.
“The fair is for everyone. … It will be focusing on general health, promoting overall student well-being,” said USU Program Council Assistant Irving Barcenas.
The purpose of the health fair is to help students be more health conscious. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the free health services offered. In the past, services included blood pressure tests and body-fat percentage readings.
This year’s fair will host 40 different vendors from organizations such the American Lung Association, HeadSTRONG and CSULB’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs program.
“We will be promoting some of our lung-health programs and services, as well as the California Cancer Research Act,” said Katie Van Cleave, coordinator of childhood asthma programs for the American Lung Association.
Participating in the event is important to the American Lung Association because “university students tend to neglect their health,” Van Cleave said.
New this year will be a three-location format. The fair will spread to the Southeast Terrace, Southwest Terrace and South Plaza.
The Southeast and Southwest terraces will be occupied by vendors. The South Plaza is reserved for K-BEACH, which will play music at the event due to a last-minute cancellation from the scheduled musical act.
The USU Program Council previously received complaints from vendors about the music being too loud at past fairs.
Vendors will each have a table and chair set up and will provide services free of charge. Representatives from the Student Recreation and Wellness Center will also attend.
The USU Program Council expects 300 people to pass through the fair, about 100 more than last year’s event.
Tickets to the fair will be free and function as raffle tickets and extra credit for participating classes.
The fair will be hosted on the second level of the USU in the event of rain.