(April 29, 2009) The University of Colorado Denver’s Health and Wellness Center and the Daniel Graham Foundation held the first in a series of five seminars to promote physical fitness and a healthful lifestyle. The free seminars are for Denver-area high school and middle school students and their families and take place on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

 “Eating Healthy, Staying Healthy,” took place Sunday, April 26, in Education 2, South Building, on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Featured speakers at the first seminar included Denver Broncos tight end Daniel Graham; James O. Hill, PhD, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at the UC Denver School of Medicine, and director of the Center for Human Nutrition; and Jackie Berning, a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs professor and nutritionist for the Denver Broncos and the Colorado Rockies.

“I wanted to build on my commitment to physical fitness for youths by partnering with my alma mater to host a series of free workshops for children and their families,” Graham said.

Hill added that seminars such as these are the perfect place to involve the community in the mission of UC Denver’s Health and Wellness Center, which will soon place in one location the Center for Integrative Medicine, the Center for Human Nutrition, and the Center for Women’s Health Research. Research and care at the center will focus on alternative and complementary medicine, holistic wellness and counseling, weight management, and improving nutrition and physical fitness.

“The Daniel Graham Foundation is sharing our vision that by bringing people together, we here in Colorado can be a model to all communities in improving health, combating obesity and preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes,” Hill said. “Together we are taking the first steps in creating a new culture of health and wellness, and what better way to do that than by starting with our young people and their families.”

Other seminars will include:

·         “Walk Anschutz” on Saturday, May 2

·          “Lifestyle Factors” on Saturday, May 9

·         “Exercise” on Saturday June 6

·         “Nutrition” on Saturday June 13.

Start times for the May and June seminars will be announced at a later date.

All five seminars are free and open to the public. Those interested in attending the seminars should RSVP to CU at 303-860-5617 or RaeAnn.Armijo@cu.edu.