Public Health and Health Coaching

I am a health coach on campus for Y Be Fit where we help students, faculty, and community members to reach their health and fitness goals. I have a passion for health and wellness and I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have been given to so far live a healthy lifestyle. I am no where near perfect and no where near where I hope to be but I know that with time I can get there. (Not to perfection but to where I want to be) just to clarify :)

I want to try to start using my blog more for my health and wellness inspiration because that is what I love. 

As a public health major we learn a wide range of topics from chronic diseases, infectious diseases, epidemiology, legislation for health policies, injury and violence prevention, and health behavior change. We strive to prevent diseases from happening in order for our communities to live long but healthy lives. 

I am really passionate about the prevention of chronic diseases. With the diabetes epidemic largely a result of unhealthy lifestyles, I want to help to prevent the onset of these diseases. 

In Public Health we believe there are social determinants of health.  This means that there are factors that influence our health and longevity. For example, in one neighborhood in Salt Lake City (the foothill area) there are people that live on average 11 years longer than those that live in South Salt Lake. All within less than a 10 min drive there is a change in an average lifespan of 11 years.

It is mind blowing that a small thing as simple as a zip code can define our overall health. This is because those that live in the "shorter lived" neighborhoods couldn't always afford to buy the healthier foods, their neighborhoods may not have had sidewalks or may have a history of crime making the neighborhood an unsafe place for exercise. The parents can't afford to put their kids in after school club sports and because of that the child lacks the physical activity necessary for optimal health. Those living in the neighborhood may not have health insurance so the pre-diabetes that they may be living with or the high cholesterol just progressively gets worse and worse as doctor avoidance continues.

This happens all through out America. The social determinants of health are real. 

This is why I have such a high passion for health and fitness and helping people reach their goals because I realize some people were never given the same opportunities that other people had.