WAT! Adult - College Edition WALK Newsletter #4 – March 28th, 2022

W – WOW: College Edition Update

This week, we would like to share a few more details about the WAT! Adult – College Edition program and what it is all about! In one of our previous newsletters, we talked about the history of the Walk Across Texas! program. This past year (2021) was another great year for the program, reaching over 40,000 participants and over 2.22 million miles were recorded. These participants reported an increase in mileage during the program and it helped non-active participants become more active. 

Despite this success with physical activity promotion, college students and young adults are typically an underrepresented group in the WAT! Adult program. Last year, the average age of WAT! participants were 45 years and the 18 – 23 age group comprised of only 6% of participants. These groups are an important audience to reach to help address the decline in activity levels through the lifespan.

Which brings us to the launch of the WAT! Adult – College Edition project! Coordinated through the Aggie Research Program, 11 undergraduate students have stepped up to work as a team and make the program accessible, timely, relevant, and fun for college students. 

As part of this process, we will ask for your insight into which program components were the most successful for you and your team. That way, we can revise and update the materials to conduct other WAT! Adult - College Edition programs at Texas A&M University and replicate it at other institutions.

You can help us by providing feedback once we share a short program survey to inform this development, but for now, I’d just like to give the College Edition team a virtual round of applause and thank YOU for your participation! 

A – Action

Here are upcoming selected events during Week 7 – March 26^th – April 1^st: 

The Local @ Lake Walk – In-Person – Tuesday (03/29) from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Click the link for more info

Dinner Tonight! – In-Person – Wednesday (03/30) from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM – Click the link to register

SLIDE Mental Health Week – Multiple Events (03/25 – 03/31) – Follow @tamuslide on Instagram 

Books That Health Out: National Nutrition Month Book & Resource Display – In-Person – Available until March 31^st – Click the link to learn more

L – Leaderboard

As a league, we have reached over 10,000 miles! Here is the current team leaderboard:

*Mileage as of Monday, March 28^th at 3:00 PM 

K – Knowledge – Being Nutritious 

March is recognized as National Nutrition Month^®, a campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This week, our knowledge topic revolves around being nutritious! When it comes to nutrition and overall health throughout college, we may not be as aware or worried about what we are putting into our bodies. Or there may be other barriers like the association of healthier eating with being expensive. 

With this topic, we would like to share tips and resources to incorporate healthier eating into your daily routine! 

Tip #1: Planning 

Planning your meals for the week can help to meet your dietary goals. Here are tips to help focus on incorporating more fruit into your diet:

• Keep a bowl of whole fruit on the table, counter, or in the refrigerator.
• Take a piece of fruit to work or school as a snack.
• Buy fresh fruits in season when they cost less and taste great.
• Buy canned fruits packed in water or 100% juice.
• Make most of your choices whole or cut‐up fruit rather than juice to benefit dietary fiber.

Tip #2: Mindful Eating

Mindful Eating can be described as making intentional choices of what and how much we are eating; and being aware of what is motivating us to eat. 

• Determine motivation behind eating…sometimes environment and emotions suggest we eat when we aren’t hungry.
• Before tasting, observe your food with all your senses.
• Eat slowly and without distraction.

Tip #3: Support 

Plan and schedule mealtimes with your family, roommates, or friends. Get in the kitchen and cook healthy meals together. Let everyone join in to help. This will build important cooking skills and form healthier eating habits for everyone.  It is also a good time for communicating with each other in a more relaxed setting.

• Assign preparation tasks or cooking teams
• Commit to try a new vegetable together
• Pose fun questions that will open communication while you cook and eat
• Take time to focus on each other through healthy mealtimes

All-in-all your nutrition and the fuel you supply your body with, set up a lot of how you feel, act, and essentially the way your body functions. Overall, if your body is happy and healthy you will feel better going about your everyday tasks, and this could possibly make a difference in your academics, work, well-being, etc. Take care of it now while you can and avoid problems in the future!

Here are a few resources to help and perhaps inspire you to try out a new, healthier recipe: 

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service – Dinner Tonight

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach – Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Strategies for Eating Well on a Budget – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 

Eating right doesn’t have to be boring – American Diabetes Association