By By MICHELE GERLACH – Publisher
When almost every member of the group raised their hands in agreement, she gave them a little more information.
And she was off, explaining to students how many servings they needed each day and why.
At the next stop, students stepped on a set of scales to determine their weights and then calculate the weights they could safely lift. Student nurse Amber Joyner used a backpack filled with weights to demonstrate her point.
For instance, a student who weighed 100 pounds was given a backpack with 10 pounds of weight in it.
Her advice included getting plenty of calcium and their diets - from milk, cheese, milk and cereal bars, pudding, macaroni and cheese, yogurt or ice cream - to promote strong bones and prevent injury.
Arrant and Joyner, along with other students in their Jefferson Davis Community College pediatric nursing class, saw 451 Brewton Middle School students Monday in a health fair coordinated by their teacher, Ann Lambert, and Susan Prater, Brewton City Schools' nurse.
Each of the 451 BMS students had their vital signs checked, were measured for height and weight, and learned about tobacco, nutrition, sports injuries and safe lifting, she said.
Lambert said her students were actually finding information the students and their parents need in their routine screens.
Prater said she plans to calculate each student's body mass index (BMI). Factoring in height and weight, BMI can be used to help determine if a person is underweight, overweight, or average. Afterward, she'll meet with the students to teach them about BMI.
Lambert said Monday's activity was a variation on the clinical experience required for students in her pediatric nursing class.