Going to college doesn't mean you have to gain the "freshman 15," the extra pounds students tend to add in their first year away from home. In Virginia, there are dozens of colleges and universities that have health centers, gyms, sports and fitness programs that students can use to maintain their health and physical fitness, forming lifelong healthy habits.
Students even can go a step further and earn a degree focusing on health and promote a healthy lifestyle for others.
Health Degrees
Degrees focusing on the health of the human body doesn't just include nursing or premedical, you could also choose physiology and kinesiology, dietetics and nutrition, sports medicine, health education, recreation management, exercise sciences or dance.
The University of Virginia in Charlottesville and The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg provide a wide range of health sciences degrees. James Madison University in Harrisonburg and William and Mary also have dance programs.
Health Fairs
Many of the universities and colleges in Virginia sponsor or participate in local health fairs. In addition to exploring the fair themselves, students may volunteer in their community by helping with a fair booth.
Norfolk State University in Norfolk sponsored its fourth annual free health fair in Virginia Beach in June 2010. It offers free health screenings, refreshments and family activities. The University of Virginia also offers a yearly fair with free screenings and health information for the community. Virgina Commonwealth University in Richmond has a health fair focusing on women's health.
Physical Fitness
Universities and colleges in Virginia have on-site gyms where students can work out, replete with treadmills, bikes, elliptical climbers and weight machines. Some universities even have indoor tracks. Additionally, the majority of universities and colleges provide physical fitness classes to students for credit through the kinesiology or physical education and exercise science departments or noncredit through the recreation department or fitness and wellness center.
James Madison is one of those universities providing recreational classes, including aerobics, weight training, tai chi, Zumba, yoga, pilates, step, sculpting, kickboxing and athletic conditioning. The University of Virginia provides a campus biking-route map for students who prefer or need that transportation option.
College Sports
College sports aren't just popular with college students, other fans, especially alumni, cheer on the athletes as well. Most sports are played at the college level; however, not all sports are played at every college. Tryouts are usually in the summer and spring. Universities tend to have the most sports, like football, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf, lacrosse, track and field, field hockey, soccer, swimming, volleyball and wrestling.
The University of Virginia, home of the Cavaliers, boasts that in the 2009-2010 school year, it had five teams ranked No. 1 in the country: lacrosse, soccer, tennis, rowing and baseball. Virginia Commonwealth University points out that that it had more than two dozen male and female athletic alumni playing professional sports in 2010.
Medical Health Centers
All universities and colleges have a medical health center. The majority of these provide outpatient care to help students who are ill or have injuries, offer allergy shots, flu shots and other vaccines, and promote patient education. The physicians at the health centers take appointments for ailing students and offer complete physicals. These facilities also provide prescriptions to students as needed.
Only the largest have a full-fledged hospital, such as the University of Virginia Health System, providing outpatient care to more than 600,000 and serving nearly 30,000 with inpatient care in 2009. The University of Virginia has medical degrees, so students get hands-on learning in the health system. The university participates in health studies and provides care to other community members.
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