UF medical students hold health fair for kids

August 24, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It’s never too early to learn about proper health, and University of Florida medical students want to give local children a good start.

UF medical students are holding a Back to School Health and Fun Fair for children and their families at the UF and Shands Eastside Community Practice clinic Saturday to help children and their parents understand issues affecting kids’ health.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Gainesville clinic, 410 N.E. Waldo Road. Nutritionists, respiratory therapists and representatives from SHANDS Safe Kids, Children’s Medical Services and the UF College of Medicine Equal Access Clinic will offer advice. Educational booths will offer information on asthma, type 2 diabetes, obesity and other disorders that affect children.

The fair will also feature a bounce house, games and a quiz booth for the kids, as well as a fire truck and firefighters from Alachua County Fire and Rescue, and UF student athletes.

Members of the UF College of Medicine student Pediatrics Interest Group organized the event to help local children get healthy, particularly in Gainesville’s Eastside neighborhood, one of the more medically underserved areas of town, said Sherita Holmes, a second-year medical student and vice president of the group.

“We wanted to start the school year with an event that would benefit the community and give us a chance to reach out to school-aged kids at a time when education about these issues might have a huge positive impact on their future,” said Chanley Howell, a second-year medical student and the group’s president.