Why I love participating in Health Fairs as a Dietetic Intern

 Written By: Mahnoor Amjad; SLU Dietetic Intern

Dear Readers,

I want to share a treasured part of my internship experience with you and hopefully inspire you through my lived experiences. I have had the opportunity to participate at several health fairs over the past year, every moment of which I have loved.

Health Fairs are a great opportunity to be involved in the community, meet new people, and have a great learning experience, particularly as students and aspiring health professionals. Health Fairs are interactive events intended to provide free health education, basic preventative medicine, and disease screening to the people in the community. They are a great way to raise awareness about health issues and refer people to see their healthcare providers as deemed necessary. Not to mention all the free goodies you get to take home with you.

I enjoy the community aspect of dietetics, the extent of which I realized when I started tabling at health fairs. Through health fairs, I engage with people of all ages and professions, which gives me insight into what the nutrition needs of the community are. I get to educate people on nutrition basics and hear differing nutrition viewpoints. Through health fairs I have learned to communicate with community members and to adapt my conversations on nutrition to meet their needs. I also learn about other community organizations through health fairs, which I can refer my clients to as a future dietitian.

There is a sense of pride in being able to share your knowledge with the community and contribute to making it a healthier place, especially communities with limited access to healthcare facilities. Every experience has been exciting and every time I have learned something new.

These are some of the health fairs I have participated in over the past year:

● SLMPD Police Academy Health Fair

I was nervous about this health fair and felt intimidated when I walked into the police academy but it turned out to be really fun. A lot of it involved talking to police officers at the academy about healthy eating on the go and on different schedules.

● Scifest: Health and Safety Expo at the Science Center

This event was at the Science Center so it was amazing (obviously). It was for children of all ages visiting with their parents. I talked about making smoothies as a fun way to encourage fruit and vegetable intake AND we had a smoothie bike (see image)! Let me tell you, kids love smoothie bikes. They got to ride the bike and then enjoy the smoothie they made. This was a fun way of teaching about physical activity and healthy eating.

● Education Day Fair at Chaifetz Arena

This event was intended for all primary and middle schools in the area. We had a smoothie bike station because kids love smoothies and bikes. This event was also very exciting and the supply of smoothies was endless.

● Arbor Day Health and Community Gardening Expo by ESHD

This was a big event organized by East Side Health District with many vendors in attendance. I had a smoothie bike station but mainly for adults this time. They loved the smoothie bike and enjoyed the smoothies afterwards. Later, I helped with packing and distributing grocery bags that ESHD was giving out to the community participants. (See image of me with another intern at the event).

● US Army Corps of Engineers Health Fair

I felt intimidated about this event as well but it turned out to be really chill. We talked to people about building healthy snacks and general healthy eating, and had some really great conversations.

● Special Olympics Missouri - Sport Zone 2023 at Lindenwood University

I had so much fun at this event with the other interns (see image). This was a fair for the children participating in the Special Olympics basketball match. I ended up at a station making DIY stress balls with the children, and I was covered in flour by the end but it was worth it!

● Tiny Smiles Dental Clinic

I dressed up as a strawberry for this event (see image)! Attendance at this event was part of a project for my graduate class. We had a nutrition clinic set up within the Dental Clinic. We were weighing our pediatric clients, measuring their height/length and plotting them on a growth chart. Then we would talk to their parents about healthy nutrition for the children. A lot of the time, the parents were speaking in different languages so it was interesting trying to communicate with them effectively.

● ESHD and National Kidney Foundation’s Diabetes and Kidney testing fair

This was the latest event I attended with the rest of the DI class. I was at the urinalysis station - the most exciting station for sure. There were other screening stations as well including blood glucose and A1c testing, anthropometrics and blood pressure, and nutrition education. It was an amazing experience seeing the screening process for diabetes and kidney disease.

The things I have learned from being a part of these health fairs are endless and I could write an essay on it. But I am glad I got to share my experience in the hope that my readers will be inspired to participate in community health fairs to benefit the community and to learn from the community in return.

Until next time!

Xoxo Mahnoor

Tags: Health Fair, Dietetic Intern, community, health