The above are just words of encouragement; but if you can muster their intended message, they definitely help you evolve into someone you want to be. We were recently invited to Mills Peninsula Health Center in San Mateo California for the Men’s Health Symposium 2014.  Organized by the African- American Health Advisory Committee, the main objective of this event was providing information about the prevailing health concerns among men, and cultivating ideas about activities/resources that motivate and encourage healthy living.  It is a great and eye opening experience learning about what you can achieve if you are willing to step outside your comfort zone.

What does it mean to be healthy? You cannot call yourself healthy just because you are physically fit and carry six pack abs. The Men’s Health Symposium, invited various experts and keynote speakers to share their view on topics such as financial health, nutrition, and mental health.  Financial health is directly related to your mental health. Low paying jobs, family responsibilities, power and status in the society, loans and debts and many more issues affect your financial health and in turn your mental health.

Mental, physiological and financial are components of your "health triangle". All of these components are interdependent. For example, if your mental health is poor, it might lead to bad eating habits as you try to cope with sadness, or depression and will de-motivate you to live healthy. Thus, poor mental and emotional health has a negative effect on your physical health. If you analyze your day-to-day life there are 3 main factors that affect your mental health:

·   Hereditary Factor

Passing of traits from parents to offspring.

·   Physical Factor

Physical state of the individual has a direct effect on mental health.

·   Socio-cultural Factor

Individuals develop attitudes and beliefs from past experiences.



Moving the discussion to nutrition and fitness, Personal Trainers discussed the rudimentary nature of cardio exercises and following diets from magazines and online blogs as an “ordinary” approach to fitness. The diet that you eat should be tailored to your body, weight, height, routine, metabolism and body mass-index (BMI).  Eating right and living right is the key to fitness.   Also, maintaining a healthy environment around you, and making good decisions,  keeps away the viral and bacterial infections including STD's or STI's (sexually transmitted infections)

The  AACHAC and ASK Academy are soon organizing follow-up focus groups to determine the needs of young men (age 35 and younger) and means to address their health concerns. We will soon be out with the details in our next post. Till then remember, “You deserve better, and yes, even if that means going out of your comfort zone.”


For more information on mental and physical health services, events and activities go to http://www.aachac.org

1. Photo gallery http://www.aachac.org/index.php/event/2013-mens-health-symposium/?gpage=2
   
   
2. Photo gallery http://www.aachac.org/index.php/event/2013-mens-health-symposium/?gpage=2
   
   

“"What is the most important thing one learns in school? Self-esteem, support, and friendship."

- Terry Tempest Williams”

The month of August is always a fresh start to the new year at school when students, teachers, parents and school authorities work towards one ultimate goal- Free flow of the academic course. While students get busy with their orientation and registration, the school authorities move on to defining the academic calendar and planning the activities that will take place during the year.

Our focus area this year has moved on to creating a Bully-free environment in all the schools in California, achieved by informing parents, teachers and students and providing ideas to sidestep this ideological landmine. Bullying can be physical, verbal, or social. It can happen in the classroom, on the playground, on the school bus, in the neighborhood, over the Internet, or through mobile devices. Following are some steps to stop bullying:

• Students should be taught various behavioral measures to face and respond to bullying such as making a strong eye contact with the bully, standing tall and staying calm in a difficult situation or completely ignoring the bully by walking away.
  
  
• Making students aware of the right person to ask for help.
  
  
• Students should alert school officials about instances of bullying and work with the authorities towards a solution.
  
  
• Appointing a student representative who will monitor social media interactions publicly.
  
  
• Organizing Anti-Bully workshops and thus providing stop bullying information to students, teachers, and school authorities.
  
  
• Developing practical solutions with the school authorities, teachers, and students to discourage Bullying.1
  
  

Ensuring that every school has a School Climate Committee will help in maintaining a peaceful environment in the school and surroundings. This committee will provide a path to promote peace and peer education at the school and answer critical questions such as - How to maintain a culture of peace outside the events and seminars? How to help the students respond effectively when someone is inappropriate or disrespectful toward them? Ultimately the question arises - What to do to stop bullying? Leadership workshops can be conducted to work on measures to promote peace and peer mentoring at the school.

To face such issues related to Bullying, it is important that the students gain control of the situation and finally 
stop the bully. We researched on various public schools across California and observed that most of the schools encouraged their students to participate in sports, drama and dance, and subject matter interschool competitions. However, most of the schools lagged in providing support on crucial factors for individual development such as Leadership, Public Speaking, Organizing Agendas, Conflict management and many more. In the ever-evolving socio-economic environment, it is really necessary that students be well exposed to the challenges and hardships one can face in the forthcoming future.

Check out this video for more tips on bullying: “Ways to Stop Bullying” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTuA_tlZDE


ASK Academy helps in organizing workshops on various topics such as  “The Art of Public Speaking”, “How to be a Leader” and many more. These workshops help High school and University students eradicate bullying activities.



Source:

1. Back to School tips, 8/1/2014

http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/news-features-and-safety-tips/Pages/Back-to-School-Tips.aspx

2.  Back To School Quotes To Start The Year Off Right
8/28/2013http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/backtoschool-quotes_n_3831072.html