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News | May 14, 2015

HQC employees advised to help themselves during health and safety expo

By Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Garas DLA Public Affairs

McNamara Headquarters Complex employees learned about taking charge of their personal fitness and well-being from a variety of health and fitness experts May 13 during the 10th Annual Health and Safety Exposition.

Operated under the theme “Help yourself to Health,” vendors set up booths on numerous topics, including massage, financial advice, nutrition, outdoor recreation, alternative health, personal gym equipment and the cafeteria. The event was sponsored by DLA Installation Support’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation program and the HQC Fitness Center.

“The idea is that people need to get involved in their health,” said Melissa Peyton, the fitness center’s assistant manager. “Healthy people are more productive, have more positive attitudes, and have been shown to get more done and take less stress home with them.”

Peyton explained that the variety of vendors also reflected the exposition’s theme, because it allowed employees to select numerous ways to improve their health.

“It’s not just exercise and eating right-- its stress reduction, or finding something that you enjoy to become healthier,” she said. “There’s just too much out there to limit yourself to just a few things.

“We usually get between 2,000-3,000 HQC employees to attend,” Greg Cummings, HQC MWR program manager said. “The event has a variety of events, including group exercise demos, messages, giveaways, health analysis, blood pressure readings and body mass index checks.”

Cummings said other additions to this year’s event included more massage therapists due to their popularity last year and free samples of healthy food from the cafeteria.

“Last year, a lot of people didn’t know we serve things like black bean and turkey burgers,” he said. “We have free sample foods from the cafeteria showing that we serve healthy options.”

Cummings said the samples were given out in conjunction with a survey cafeteria staff will use to see how they can improve their menu options for health-conscious employees.

Patricia Babida, a procurement analyst with the Defense Logistics Agency Joint Contingency Acquisition Support Office, said expositions like this were great, because her schedule prevented her from attending similar events during weekends.

“This is great, because it brings everything here to us and gives us an opportunity to see if we want to get involved in any of these activities,” she said. “This looks like fun.”