Sailors aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) met with members of various organizations during a health fair hosted by the health promotions committee in the hangar bay, June 24.

Sailors visited booths with topics ranging from physical fitness to dental health. Each booth gave Sailors advice and education on how to stay healthy on shore and at sea.

"The health fair is here to raise awareness on a variety of different health topics," said Lt. Blaze Chatham, a medical service corps officer and health promotions coordinator. "We're talking about everything from dental health to injury prevention. We're focusing on common issues that Sailors have that can affect their health and their life."

Another area of focus was physical fitness, which Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Airman Grace Howard felt was one of the more beneficial parts of the event.

"One of the biggest takeaways I had was the physical fitness presentation," said Howard. "They showed us the proper way to lift weights. I also really enjoyed the stress management portion of the night as well."

In addition to educating shipmates on their health, Sailors appreciated feedback about how to make the ship a healthier environment.

"I decided to make a survey of healthy food options that could be brought into the ship's store," said Ensign Paul Fogolin, a supply officer aboard John C. Stennis. "The main goal is to find out what healthy options Sailors want, so we can bring it in and make it available to them."

The health fair also encouraged Sailors to ask right away if they had health questions.

"The ship has a lot of resources where they can get health information outside of events like this," said Chatham. "This is the first health fair since I've been here. We generally put on one or two events a month, in addition to all the services on board, such as chaplains and psychologists for stress issues and tobacco cessation programs for Sailors looking to quit tobacco use."

For more news on John C. Stennis, visit www.stennis.navy.mil or follow along on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stennis74.


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For more news from USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), visit www.navy.mil/.