Exercise Nutrition Symposium

Evan Stevens

This past Saturday, April 2nd, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Take Control of Your Health/Wellness – Exercise Nutrition Symposium hosted by the Alumni Network at the University of Western Ontario and put together by Dr. Pete Lemon, the Director of Western’s Exercise Nutrition [ ? ]. Now in its 11th year, the lecture-style symposium brings back successful Western alumni who have become experts in their fields to share some of the research they and their colleagues are working on and some points of interest to be aware of as we move forward. The experts presented half hour talks on specific subjects ranging from how sitting is slowly killing and is just as bad for your health as smoking is, to how getting the ideal body type may be too costly to some of us and we need to consider the cost of getting lean.

Sitting Disease – The New Smoking

Take an Aspirin and Tweet me in the Morning: How Social Media is Transforming Health

Cost of Getting Lean: Is it Worth the Trade-offs

Developing a Body for Sport and Life

Gene-base Nutrition: Can it Benefit You?

Exercise as a Stimulus for Bone Health

Physical Activity Prescription: The Global Goal

There were two more talks at the symposium: Exercise: Rescuer and Preserver of Brain Health presented by Dr. Kevin Shoemaker and The Donald Trump Diet: 20% Crazy, 80% Effective presented by Graeme Thomas. Unfortunately the previous talks ran longer than expected, and with Canadian April weather brewing outside (read: snow and ice storm) I thought it best to try and get ahead of the worst of it and slowly make my way home. The talks that I heard were all great and I highly recommend attending next year if you can. It is a great day and great opportunity to learn more about health and wellness. If you’re a student it only runs about $25 and $60 for those of us who are not, well worth it to hear from some of world’s foremost experts in their fields.