Visiting STEM Ambassadors Explore Health and Fitness

Dr. Campbell hosted 4-H STEM Ambassadors to explore the variety of ways to assess health and fitness. The 4-H STEM Ambassador program welcomes New Jersey youth from middle and high school to the SEBS campus to participate in hands-on activities as they learn alongside Rutgers faculty in their respective discipline. Now in its 14th year, the program supports young people from six urban communities around New Jersey, with the objective of supporting and encouraging first generation college students in the pursuit of STEM careers.

Seven STEM Ambassadors spent the day with Dr. Campbell and learned about the importance and relevance of heart rate, blood pressure, body composition, muscular strength and endurance, standing high jump, bench step testing and flexibility for overall health. The STEM Ambassadors also learned how to take these measurements, assess how results can be interpreted, and ways to use their data to promote a healthy lifestyle!

The STEM Ambassadors will take the knowledge they have gained this past week back to their respective communities and teach-back to their younger peers at local YMCAs, libraries, and after school programs. More Photos

Rutgers Culture of School Health Program Launches in-Person Component in Edison School District: Newsroom

 The Rutgers Culture of Health School Program (RCHSP), which was established with a $100,000 grant from the The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, was launched in the Edison Township Public Schools in February this year. A community outreach initiative under the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, RCHSP fosters and promotes lifestyles centered around physical activity and nutritional literacy, and is a joint endeavor of the New Jersey Healthy Kids Initiative (NJHKI) and the Department of Family and Community Health Sciences (FCHS), a unit of Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE).

In addition to supporting school-aged students, Lisa Rossman-Murphy, a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology and member of the RCHSP Physical Literacy team, used the program as an opportunity to expose her undergraduate students to the real-life application of content she teaches in her courses.

“This project provides experiential learning for the Rutgers student volunteers. In the Pediatric Physical Development and Fitness course, students learn the importance of movement opportunities for development and that kids who are more comfortable with movement skills will be more physically active and at less risk of chronic health issues. Through this project, we are witnessing a wide range of physical literacy levels among school children, and we are providing knowledge and opportunities for improvement. I find this very exciting and rewarding.”

Click here for the full NEWSROOM article.

Some parents are overjoyed at the prospect of permanent daylight-saving time, saying changing the clock messes up kids' sleep

Avoiding the switch between standard time and daylight-saving time may be a good idea, said Andrea Spaeth, an assistant professor and laboratory director at the Rutgers Sleep Lab.

But Spaeth said daylight-saving time isn't optimal for our circadian rhythms: Exposure to daylight in the morning triggers a signal to the brain that it's time to be alert, while avoiding exposure to light in the evening signals it's time for sleep. Standard time aligns with this system better than daylight-saving time, and that's especially true for children, Spaeth said.

Click here for the full INSIDER Article

Shortsighted COVID policies are accelerating harm for people with disabilities

I used to talk to my college students about all the advances in civil rights and equity that people with disabilities have made over the years.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Across the country, countless members of my community were turned away from hospitals, denied lifesaving treatment, forced to remain in dangerous congregate living arrangements, and unable to safely access food, transportation, personal protective equipment, testing and even critical information about how to protect themselves.

All because of who they were.

Click here for Dr. Javier Robles full article in The Hill

New Publication:Textbook of Lifestyle Medicine 

Labros Sidossis, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health, together with Stefanos Kales MD, an outstanding scientist and good friend of Dr. Sidossis from Harvard Medical School, have published their newest book titled Textbook of Lifestyle Medicine.

Lifestyle medicine is the oldest and, at the same time, the newest field of medicine! It crosses specialties and numerous health professions. It uses evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic intervention — diet, physical activity, sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections - to prevent and treat diseases (cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other neurologic, metabolic and psychosocial diseases), promotes wellness and longevity.

Wiley Publisher- https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Textbook+of+Lifestyle+Medicine-p-9781119704379

Exercise and Gut Health

Episode 82: Listen to this episode from Eatrite Nutrition Podcast on Spotify. This week we partnered with Dr. Sara Campbell of Rutgers University to talk about gut health, the microbiome, and Exercise. We take a deep dive into some of the current research surrounding the effects of exercise on gut health and how microbiota may play a crucial role in your ability to exercise. We also cover probiotics and whether or not they may aid in your exercise.

Click here for the Eatrite Nutrition Podcast, Episode 82

Coaching a Kid on the Autism Spectrum

“ASD impacts each nervous system differently,” says Lisa Rossman Murphy, a pediatric physical therapist who has worked with kids with ASD for decades and recently wrote about coaching athletes on the autism spectrum for the Rutgers Youth Sports Research Council. “Find out what motivates the child, what agitates the child, what calms the child when agitated. What is the best way to give the child a direction?” she says. “These questions can show a parent you care.”

Click here for the full MOJO.sport article

The Effect of Antibiotics on Muscle Mass, Aerobic /Cardiovascular Performance, and More 

Episode 127: The Effect of Antibiotics on Muscle Mass, Aerobic /Cardiovascular Performance, and More - An Interview with Dr Sara Campbell

Today, I'm speaking with Dr. Sara Campbell about the relationship between antibiotics and your gains. You can hear all the latest information before these studies are published. We also talk about cold water exposure and its effect on brown adipose tissue. Dr. Campbell is the director of the graduate program in kinesiology and applied physiology, as well as an associate professor at Rutgers University.

Click here for the Flex Diet Podcast, Episode 127

Javier Robles Discusses Disability Bias in Covid Response

The Record talks with Javier Robles, a faculty member in the Department of Kinsesiology and Health about a new report that shows how disability bias spurred unnecessary COVID deaths. Social distancing rules kept caretakers, family members and advocates out when patients needed them most, Robles told The Record. "I am a quadriplegic. I was scared that I would end up in the hospital," he said. "If you went into the hospital, you were not going to come back out."

Click here for the full northjersey.com article