By Sheryl Garner
A new general education requirement under the wellness section takes effect this Fall.
Healthy Living, or PE 105, is now part of the new option B of the wellness requirement. Along with this class, students can take two activity classes from the PE and Dance departments. Option A, HEPE 129, Fitness and Lifestyle Management, remains unchanged.
“Our students who were taking option B, three activity classes, would take beginning or intermediate bowling and badminton, and they would suppose to have a university wellness education,” said Steve Aldana, BYU professor of exercise science. “We knew that wasn”t going to quite cut it.”
Aldana said the goal of this class is to help students learn why it is important to have good nutrition and regular physical activity, what good nutrition and physical activity are, and how students can do it for the rest of their lives.
The College of Health and Human Performance has a HEPE and wellness committee, which is responsible for both options A and B. Aldana is a member of the committee and oversees the curriculum for PE 105.
This new general education requirement applies for the entire university student body that have not yet finished this requirement.
Aldana said most incoming BYU students, 75 percent, will follow the option B route.
“The purpose of the whole class is to prevent the chronic diseases that we have that kill us right now,” Aldana said. “We know we can do something about it if we can just get information into the student”s hands in a fun and enjoyable way. And that”s what this class is about.”
Aldana said anywhere between 70 and 90 percent of all the conditions that kill our society today are due to cardiovascular diseases, strokes and cancers—are lifestyle related.
“The class is intended for students to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles, and as long as they will, they can prevent and delay these causes of death anywhere from 10 to 20 years.”
Robert Conlee, dean of the College of Health and Human Performance, said the old option B wasn”t providing enough information to the students for a healthy lifestyle. He said he hopes the class will motivate students to continue to live fit after college.
“It”s a very exciting addition to the wellness requirement,” Conlee said. “It will be a very important piece to the student”s awareness, knowledge and experience with wellness for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Robbie Harmon, a 22-year-old junior from Provo, said he has finished his wellness credits, but said he thinks this new option B gives college students a better foundation in healthy eating.
“I took HEPE, and I would have rather had this option,” Harmon said. “I think it would have been good because HEPE was a lot of common sense information.”
Currently, both blocks of classes offered in the fall are full with 300 students who will meet once a week for an hour.
“It”s going to be a very fun and exciting class that they”re going to want to come to,” Aldana said.
He said he hopes in the future, every BYU graduate will have 10 to 20 years of high quality living added to their lives. Lives they wouldn”t have if they had continued to live the normal American living styles. He said an extra 10 years of life could be used for a lot.
“Well, you”ll do a lot of temple service,” Aldana said. “You would do a lot of community service. You”ll go on your third or fourth mission. We help build the kingdom,” Aldana said.
