Health advocates have advised students of the University of Professional Studies, Accra, to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to be fit for academic works.
According to the health and fitness professionals, students who sometimes miss critical academic works were due to ill-health, and there was the need to tackle this growing phenomenon.
These observations were made during a one-day health seminar organized by the UPSA Sports Directorate and Green Fitness Club to sensitize participants on the need for a healthy life whiles pursuing academic success.
The ‘I Choose to Live’ campaign was, therefore, an initiative which aims at addressing students’ health matters on campus which according to the organizers often affect their academic performance.
Dietician, Dr. Mamle Tetteh, speaking on the topic “Healthy eating”, remarked that healthy eating was akin to healthy living, and as a result, urged the students to prioritize the issue of balanced nutrition.
She noted that having a well-balanced diet was an important element in preventing all forms of malnutrition and overnutrition in one’s life.
Dr. Tetteh also revealed that not eating within the right time intervals could as well increase an individual’s cholesterol level.
“Cholesterol is not only from your diet. Research has it that, the body also produces about 80 per cent cholesterol while just 20 per cent come from our diet. Therefore, if you are not eating at regular times intervals, it compels your body to undergo a chemical reaction which will instigate high cholesterol,” she added.
The fitness instructor at the UPSA Club House Gym, Theodore Carl Ntem, explained that it is important for every individual to develop cardiovascular resistance so as to prevent heart-related diseases. This he says can be achieved through regular exercise.
“Exercising regularly keeps the heart reasonably high. This also helps in building your cardiovascular region with endurance and strength. It takes a lot of commitment and self-discipline to do it,” he said.
Director of Sports at UPSA, Ibrahim Ali cautioned the students against living a ‘reckless lifestyle’ which he says tend to affect their health when they grow older.
