With their affinity for late nights, poor diets and too much of nature’s social lubricant,… With their affinity for late nights, poor diets and too much of nature’s social lubricant, it’s no surprise that college students are notorious for unhealthy lifestyles. But one group of Pitt students is proving that college life can be healthy.

PantherWELL peer health education program taught students some healthy tips for daily living at its kickoff event last night in Towers’ lobby.

Five themed tables filled the lobby – one each for sex, drugs, alcohol, stress and nutrition. Activities at each allowed students to make stress balls, put on beer goggles while attempting to walk on a straight line and play “sex Jeopardy,” among other exercises.

“We want to get the information out there for students,” said PantherWELL employee Michael Cimmino. “A lot of students don’t even know where the health building is, let alone the programs we offer that they’re paying for through their health fee.”

At the stress table, peer health educator Emily Yarrison explained the importance of taking time to be alone and de-stress. She said that when students map out their days – how long they spend sleeping, doing homework, working and going to class – it’s usually less than 24 hours.

“People say they don’t have any time to relax, but they really do,” she said. “It’s just a matter of taking the time.”

Peer health educators April Parfitt and Abby Dehler refereed a condom relay race where students broke into teams, one wearing beer goggles and the other wearing a blindfold. Then, the two raced to see who could put the condoms on wooden models the fastest.

“It’s fun to watch,” Parfitt said.

Meg Mayer-Costa, the staff nutritionist at PantherWELL, hand-tailors workout and eating plans for students.

Her services are covered under the student health fee all students pay at the beginning of each term.

One tip PantherWELL advocates for students is “if a friend is throwing up, take them to the hospital, you won’t get in trouble,” Cimmino said. “Surprisingly, a lot of students I talk to don’t know that.”

PantherWELL also offers a program to help students quit smoking and offers one HIV and one STD test per year, which, once again, are all covered under the health fee.

“Students are a great venue to get information out there because students tend to listen to their peers,” PantherWELL adviser Jaime Sidani said. “But at the same time our workers learn more about health education and mentoring.”

There are five things student should do regularly to stay well, Sidani said. They should “make sure to get enough sleep, eat in a healthful way without being too restrictive, practice time management, find a good stress reliever that you make time for each day and use condoms.”

PantherWELL is a peer health education program offered through the Office of Health Education and Promotion.

They hire students every March and train them to teach other students about drugs, tobacco, nutrition, sex and alcohol.