Provided

Human Ecology student Juhi Purswani '13 leads New York City children in a Let's Get Moving class at the July 28 health fair.

Students in Cornell's Iscol Family Program for Leadership Development in Public Service and the Urban Semester Summer Program -- both in the College of Human Ecology -- co-hosted a free health fair July 28 in Brooklyn.

Four Iscol pre-med students, who are participating in public service summer internships through the Urban Semester program in New York City, worked with community partners to organize the health fair at Nuestros Ninos Day Care Center Inc. as part of their public service mission. The fair included opportunities for exercise and healthful snacks for children and parents, cooking demonstrations, body mass measurement, screening for hypertension and hyperglycemia, and information about dental hygiene, asthma and diabetes. A main focus of the fair was to better connect the nearby Woodhull Medical Center with the Latino community in North Brooklyn. Woodhull and Nuestros Ninos co-hosted the event.

The students were able to screen more than 70 community members for levels of blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure, and they gave dental screenings and asthma peak flow tests. Several people who had borderline or high values were referred to the clinic for follow-up appointments. One patient was even directed to go to the emergency room for extremely high blood pressure. City Councilwoman Diana Reyna (D-34th) and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-12th) also came for health checkups.

Zumba and yoga instructors were on hand to get the crowd moving, and artists from Woodhull Medical Center face painted and led craft projects. A jump-rope and hula hoop competition gave the children opportunities to have fun while exercising, and every child went home with a hula hoop and jump-rope.

Urban Semester, open to all Cornell students, is a year-round program through which undergraduates take courses and do internships and service in New York City. It often attracts students interested in medicine, public health, finance, law and other fields that have a large presence in New York City.

The Iscol Family Program's summer internship program, overseen by the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, offers Cornell students opportunities to work directly with civic groups and gain experience in public and community service. There are 18 Cornell students with such internships this summer.