Thursday, May 7, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
University of Maryland's School of Public Health is Giving Out Pedometers at Maryland Day to Promote Physical Activity
The School of Public Health will be giving out pedometers to track individuals' step counts at its Step It Up event during Maryland Day. While there's no direct link between pedometers and health benefits like weight loss and the decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, the device - along with other activity trackers available - can help people to be more mindful of living an active and healthy lifestyle.
There will be about 2,000 pedometers available for Maryland Day attendees to use.
This is the first year the School of Public Health, SPH, will be hosting this event at Maryland Day.
Kristin Cipriani, the assistant director of Public Health Science, is the coordinator for the Step It Up event.
"We wanted to give attendees something to help keep them mindful of their well being," Cipriani said. "We went with pedometers because that's an easy one to do and with all of the attraction right now to Fitbits and different ways to track your steps the pedometer seemed like one people would like."
The pedometers at Maryland Day will only have the basic function of tracking the amount of steps taken, but it can help give attendees an idea of how much they walk at Maryland Day and on such a large campus.
It is recommended to take 10,000 steps a day and get 150 minutes of physical activity a week for adults.
The American Heart Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend accumulating 10,000 steps each day to stay fit and reduce the risk of disease.
Cipriani says, "Because Maryland's campus is so big, students have a great advantage here just walking to and from class."
Sara Goodwin, a junior at UMD, uses a Fitbit Charge to help her stay active.
"I live on the third floor of my house and I walk 30 floors a day apparently on average," Goodwin said. "I also walked 15 or 20,000 steps a day when I was going to the gym pretty regularly."
Goodwin's longest walk from her house to class is a half hour each way; she also walks .89 miles each way.
However, while a brisk walk can count towards exercise, the physical activity recommendations for adults are about 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week.
There is a correlation between the amount of exercise an individual does and weight loss as well as decreased risk of health issues including the onset of cardiovascular disease. Pedometers can help make an individual more cognizant of their physical activity and push them to do more.
Pedometers can help make people more mindful of their step count, and therefore the amount of physical activity engaged in daily.
Cipriani mentions using pedometers does not directly have health benefits, but by making an individual more aware of their physical activity it can push them to do more.
Emily Joseph, a junior at UMD, uses a Fitbit Flex to count her steps.
According to Fitbit, their users take 43% more steps. Activity trackers can help promote a healthy and active lifestyle by making users more aware of their physical activity.
Lauren Straface, a senior at UMD, also uses a Fitbit to keep track of her health and fitness. "If I'm having a lazier day where I'm sitting a lot I can look at my Fitbit stats and see that and it pushes me to want to go to the gym because I want to increase my steps and burn more calories. It helps me stay on track and ensure I am always doing some type of physical activity everyday," Straface said.
Students use other fitness trackers like Fitbits and smartphone apps to stay active and healthy.
There are several types of fitness trackers with a variety of different functions, which resemble more advanced modern day pedometers.
Fitbit has a variety of activity trackers that sync up to iPhones and computers.
Other popular activity trackers include the Nike+ FuelBand and the Jawbone.
The health app on the iPhone has a pedometer function which measures steps, flights climbed, cycling distance, and even calories.
MyFitnessPal also offers several different apps to download to track step count and activity, sync up to GPS, connect to Fitbit, along with dietary functions.
Cipriani said brisk walking can count towards physical activity, but people still want to be doing more and there are a variety of ways students can get active on campus by taking advantage of various resources and activities through organizations and the recreation centers. Pedometers, or fitness trackers with the pedometer function, can help make people mindful and develop a healthy lifestyle routine. In addition to walking around campus there are group fitness classes, club and intramural sports and other ways to stay physically fit.
 |
| The Fitbit can sync up to an iPhone or individuals can check their stats and track their fitness on a computer. |
There will be about 2,000 pedometers available for Maryland Day attendees to use.
This is the first year the School of Public Health, SPH, will be hosting this event at Maryland Day.
Kristin Cipriani, the assistant director of Public Health Science, is the coordinator for the Step It Up event.
"We wanted to give attendees something to help keep them mindful of their well being," Cipriani said. "We went with pedometers because that's an easy one to do and with all of the attraction right now to Fitbits and different ways to track your steps the pedometer seemed like one people would like."
The pedometers at Maryland Day will only have the basic function of tracking the amount of steps taken, but it can help give attendees an idea of how much they walk at Maryland Day and on such a large campus.
It is recommended to take 10,000 steps a day and get 150 minutes of physical activity a week for adults.
The American Heart Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend accumulating 10,000 steps each day to stay fit and reduce the risk of disease.
Cipriani says, "Because Maryland's campus is so big, students have a great advantage here just walking to and from class."
Sara Goodwin, a junior at UMD, uses a Fitbit Charge to help her stay active.
"I live on the third floor of my house and I walk 30 floors a day apparently on average," Goodwin said. "I also walked 15 or 20,000 steps a day when I was going to the gym pretty regularly."
Goodwin's longest walk from her house to class is a half hour each way; she also walks .89 miles each way.
However, while a brisk walk can count towards exercise, the physical activity recommendations for adults are about 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week.
There is a correlation between the amount of exercise an individual does and weight loss as well as decreased risk of health issues including the onset of cardiovascular disease. Pedometers can help make an individual more cognizant of their physical activity and push them to do more.
Pedometers can help make people more mindful of their step count, and therefore the amount of physical activity engaged in daily.
Cipriani mentions using pedometers does not directly have health benefits, but by making an individual more aware of their physical activity it can push them to do more.
Emily Joseph, a junior at UMD, uses a Fitbit Flex to count her steps.
According to Fitbit, their users take 43% more steps. Activity trackers can help promote a healthy and active lifestyle by making users more aware of their physical activity.
Lauren Straface, a senior at UMD, also uses a Fitbit to keep track of her health and fitness. "If I'm having a lazier day where I'm sitting a lot I can look at my Fitbit stats and see that and it pushes me to want to go to the gym because I want to increase my steps and burn more calories. It helps me stay on track and ensure I am always doing some type of physical activity everyday," Straface said.
Students use other fitness trackers like Fitbits and smartphone apps to stay active and healthy.
There are several types of fitness trackers with a variety of different functions, which resemble more advanced modern day pedometers.
Fitbit has a variety of activity trackers that sync up to iPhones and computers.
Other popular activity trackers include the Nike+ FuelBand and the Jawbone.
The health app on the iPhone has a pedometer function which measures steps, flights climbed, cycling distance, and even calories.
 |
| This screenshot from the iPhone health app shows the step count and pedometer function of the app. |
MyFitnessPal also offers several different apps to download to track step count and activity, sync up to GPS, connect to Fitbit, along with dietary functions.
Cipriani said brisk walking can count towards physical activity, but people still want to be doing more and there are a variety of ways students can get active on campus by taking advantage of various resources and activities through organizations and the recreation centers. Pedometers, or fitness trackers with the pedometer function, can help make people mindful and develop a healthy lifestyle routine. In addition to walking around campus there are group fitness classes, club and intramural sports and other ways to stay physically fit.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
The New Phenomenon of Posting Selfies to Various Social Media Platforms Can Have Implications for Self-Esteem and Body Image
Celebrities, bloggers and Generation Y are all participating in the selfie trend. Thanks to smartphones and various social media platforms selfies can be taken, edited and uploaded anywhere at anytime. A selfie as defined by Oxford Dictionary is, "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media site."
Over a million selfies were taken a day in 2014, according to Techinfographics.
There's no denying this phenomenon: selfies are dominating the newsfeeds of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media platforms.
Dr. Brenda Alpert Sigall, a psychologist at the University of Maryland who specializes in self-esteem, body image, eating disorders, and women's development, recognizes the potential implications of this new and overwhelming selfie trend.
Laura Gonson, a senior at the University of Maryland, is an avid selfie-taker.
"In the beginning of Instagram I used to post a lot of selfies and even though I got good feedback I also got people joking that I've only taken pictures of myself. So as time has gone on I put up only socially acceptable selfies, so there's a point to the selfie," Gonson said.
In a survey taken by 100 sorority women ages 18 to 22 at the University of Maryland 35% said they take selfies more than once a day. There are several different reasons people take selfies including: a scenic background, doing an activity, out with friends and or because they think they look good.
Mashable reports, "A new study conducted by Dove revealed about 82% of women believe social media is influencing how we define beauty today."
Media is a powerful influence and social media is unique because people are connected 24/7 and making it challenging to avoid unrealistic beauty pressures.
They are "unhealthy images that girls and women aspire to conform to and that has a lot of negative effects...I can talk about movies and magazines, the media in every one of its forms, and I think social media is rising to the top of that," Dr. Sigall said.
Girls and women are constantly bombarded with images, like the carefully selected and edited selfies, on social media. While movies, print media, and music can influence society's concept of beauty, according to a recent Dove study 63% of women surveyed actually believe social media, like Facebook and Instagram, is the greatest influence on the standards of beauty.
The use of social media creates the opportunity to compare oneself to a celebrity, peer and even receive peer feedback.
The selective self-representation and the ability to edit photos can contribute to the unrealistic beauty standards perpetuated by social media. These 'perfect' images are what girls and women compare themselves to.
Techinfographics reports 14% of selfies taken in 2014 were digitally enhanced. There are countless mobile photo editing apps and even articles with tips on how to improve your selfie.
Although some take natural selfies and even hashtag #nofilter, a majority of the UMD women surveyed said they edit their pictures before posting. There are apps to edit redeye, stretch the photo to appear leaner, adjust the colors, remove blemishes, whiten teeth, look tanner, and more.
MC, a senior at UMD, said she edits and saturates her photos to bring out the colors; she also thinks editing selfies is particularly popular on Instagram.
MC VIDEO
"If you upload a selfie of yourself and get no likes then you will question yourself because you thought you looked good in it," Gonson said.
Gonson says now she'll only post selfies where she looks good and with a cool background because the goal is to get likes.
Brooks Leitner, a senior at UMD, also participates in the selfie trend. While he takes selfies for reasons like to capture a cool background, he recognizes the potential risks and vulnerability of the trend.
In the survey with UMD women 71% said the amount of likes received on a selfie affects their self-esteem.
"If one posts a selfie with the expectation that certain people, or a certain number of people will 'like' it and that doesn't happen, their self-esteem may suffer," Dr. Nathaniel Herr said, an assistant professor of psychology and lab director of the Interpersonal Emotion Lab at American University. "Others may post a picture purely with the expectation that others will read and now where they've been or what they've done. This type of person seems less at risk for a self-esteem drop because their goals when posting the photo are different."
Selfies aren't necessarily unhealthy; this trend can possibly be used in a positive way to change the beauty standards set by social media.
Although there are also studies linking an obsession with selfies to mental disorders like narcissism, others view the trend as an opportunity for change.
For Dove's 10th anniversary of its Campaign for Real Beauty Cynthia Wade created a short documentary on selfies in which daughters and mothers take selfies owning their insecurities to redefine the conventional word and standards of beauty.
Alexandra Rodriguez, a participant and in the top 15 for the Miss Maryland Teen 2013, takes selfies with and without makeup because it's easy when no one can take the photo and sometimes it's spontaneous.
If groups of young women can take selfies and promote good self-esteem, self-acceptance and body image or if more celebrities were seen posting selfies without makeup, like when the singer Lorde posted a selfie with acne cream, then the selfie trend can be a form of empowerment.
"I'll be optimistic and say yes it can be used as a positive vehicle. I think in general or certainly right now they're not nearly as positive an influence as maybe they can be and I think there is some negative fallout," Dr. Sigall said.
Although it depends on the individual, there's some vulnerability in posting selfies to social media to both the person posting and the viewer. Whether the person posting the selfie expects a certain number of likes or a follower is comparing themselves to this perfect and edited selfie of a peer, there's a chance the selfie phenomenon can negatively impact self-esteem.
 |
| MC is editing a selfie of her new haircut before posting to Instagram. |
Over a million selfies were taken a day in 2014, according to Techinfographics.
There's no denying this phenomenon: selfies are dominating the newsfeeds of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media platforms.
Dr. Brenda Alpert Sigall, a psychologist at the University of Maryland who specializes in self-esteem, body image, eating disorders, and women's development, recognizes the potential implications of this new and overwhelming selfie trend.
Laura Gonson, a senior at the University of Maryland, is an avid selfie-taker.
"In the beginning of Instagram I used to post a lot of selfies and even though I got good feedback I also got people joking that I've only taken pictures of myself. So as time has gone on I put up only socially acceptable selfies, so there's a point to the selfie," Gonson said.
In a survey taken by 100 sorority women ages 18 to 22 at the University of Maryland 35% said they take selfies more than once a day. There are several different reasons people take selfies including: a scenic background, doing an activity, out with friends and or because they think they look good.
Mashable reports, "A new study conducted by Dove revealed about 82% of women believe social media is influencing how we define beauty today."
Media is a powerful influence and social media is unique because people are connected 24/7 and making it challenging to avoid unrealistic beauty pressures.
They are "unhealthy images that girls and women aspire to conform to and that has a lot of negative effects...I can talk about movies and magazines, the media in every one of its forms, and I think social media is rising to the top of that," Dr. Sigall said.
Girls and women are constantly bombarded with images, like the carefully selected and edited selfies, on social media. While movies, print media, and music can influence society's concept of beauty, according to a recent Dove study 63% of women surveyed actually believe social media, like Facebook and Instagram, is the greatest influence on the standards of beauty.
The use of social media creates the opportunity to compare oneself to a celebrity, peer and even receive peer feedback.
The selective self-representation and the ability to edit photos can contribute to the unrealistic beauty standards perpetuated by social media. These 'perfect' images are what girls and women compare themselves to.
Techinfographics reports 14% of selfies taken in 2014 were digitally enhanced. There are countless mobile photo editing apps and even articles with tips on how to improve your selfie.
Although some take natural selfies and even hashtag #nofilter, a majority of the UMD women surveyed said they edit their pictures before posting. There are apps to edit redeye, stretch the photo to appear leaner, adjust the colors, remove blemishes, whiten teeth, look tanner, and more.
MC, a senior at UMD, said she edits and saturates her photos to bring out the colors; she also thinks editing selfies is particularly popular on Instagram.
MC VIDEO
"If you upload a selfie of yourself and get no likes then you will question yourself because you thought you looked good in it," Gonson said.
Gonson says now she'll only post selfies where she looks good and with a cool background because the goal is to get likes.
Brooks Leitner, a senior at UMD, also participates in the selfie trend. While he takes selfies for reasons like to capture a cool background, he recognizes the potential risks and vulnerability of the trend.
In the survey with UMD women 71% said the amount of likes received on a selfie affects their self-esteem.
"If one posts a selfie with the expectation that certain people, or a certain number of people will 'like' it and that doesn't happen, their self-esteem may suffer," Dr. Nathaniel Herr said, an assistant professor of psychology and lab director of the Interpersonal Emotion Lab at American University. "Others may post a picture purely with the expectation that others will read and now where they've been or what they've done. This type of person seems less at risk for a self-esteem drop because their goals when posting the photo are different."
Selfies aren't necessarily unhealthy; this trend can possibly be used in a positive way to change the beauty standards set by social media.
Although there are also studies linking an obsession with selfies to mental disorders like narcissism, others view the trend as an opportunity for change.
For Dove's 10th anniversary of its Campaign for Real Beauty Cynthia Wade created a short documentary on selfies in which daughters and mothers take selfies owning their insecurities to redefine the conventional word and standards of beauty.
Alexandra Rodriguez, a participant and in the top 15 for the Miss Maryland Teen 2013, takes selfies with and without makeup because it's easy when no one can take the photo and sometimes it's spontaneous.
If groups of young women can take selfies and promote good self-esteem, self-acceptance and body image or if more celebrities were seen posting selfies without makeup, like when the singer Lorde posted a selfie with acne cream, then the selfie trend can be a form of empowerment.
"I'll be optimistic and say yes it can be used as a positive vehicle. I think in general or certainly right now they're not nearly as positive an influence as maybe they can be and I think there is some negative fallout," Dr. Sigall said.
Although it depends on the individual, there's some vulnerability in posting selfies to social media to both the person posting and the viewer. Whether the person posting the selfie expects a certain number of likes or a follower is comparing themselves to this perfect and edited selfie of a peer, there's a chance the selfie phenomenon can negatively impact self-esteem.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
UMD Students Plan Fun Spring Break Trips Without Breaking the Bank
Spring break is about having a fun time, being with friends and most importantly getting your money's worth. Without the right research and planning spring break can be expensive whether you travel to Miami or Mexico and everywhere in between.
Student travel companies organize all-inclusive spring break trips to top destinations.
Morgan Singer, a senior at the University of Maryland, booked her spring break trip to Cancun, Mexico six months in advance through STS travel.
StudentCity is another popular company students can use to plan spring break trips. Students can book trips with large groups of friends to all-inclusive hotels at top destinations and purchase VIP packages to guarantee entrance to clubs and events.
"It's the company my friends went on last year and they had a really good experience so we decided to do it again," Singer said. STS Travel has campus representatives on over 1000 campuses in the United States.
While not quite the same thing as booking through a company, USA Today College reports that Groupon has a spring break section and may offer good alternative deals.
Students consider locations and prices while researching spring break trips.
"We looked around at other destinations and prices, but Cancun was the best bang for our buck," Singer said.
According to ABC News, the top spring break destinations for college students in 2014 included: Cancun, Mexico, Panama City Beach FL, Las Vegas, NV, Jamaica; Miami, FL, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, South Padre Island, TX, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Nassau, Bahamas.
While there are certainly benefits to using a student travel company to plan a spring break trip, University of Maryland senior Amanda Nessel decided to book a spring break trip to Miami on her own.
Nessel and Singer both wanted a spring break trip where they could relax and have fun in warm weather, but wasn't too expensive. Other important factors Nessel and Singer considered while choosing a location include how safe the destination is and easy it is to get there.
Expedia is having a new Spring Break promotion offering discounted prices for hotels at top spring break destinations.
CNBC reports that not only are flights to top spring break destinations slightly less expensive in 2015 than 2014, but Expedia is having a Spring Break promotion.
Students choose to go on cruises and or alternative breaks the University of Maryland offers.
Rachel Diamond, a senior at the University of Maryland, booked a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas with friends.
"We booked a cruise because not only did we get a good deal, but you can also go to so many different spots and everything is all-inclusive," Diamond said.
Another option for students is to take advantage of the alternative spring break programs including the alternative breaks sponsored by STAMP, which are local, national and international projects and locations as well as Maryland Hillel, which offers spring breaks to national and international locations.
Whether the spring break is to a popular destination, on a cruise or an alternative break UMD students, with enough research and planning, can find good deals on spring break trips. Singer and her friends think the student travel companies provide not only the top experience but also competitive prices to popular destinations like Cancun while Nessel through research and planning was able to also book an affordable trip to another top destination, Miami, on her own.
Student travel companies organize all-inclusive spring break trips to top destinations.
Morgan Singer, a senior at the University of Maryland, booked her spring break trip to Cancun, Mexico six months in advance through STS travel.
"It's the company my friends went on last year and they had a really good experience so we decided to do it again," Singer said. STS Travel has campus representatives on over 1000 campuses in the United States.
While not quite the same thing as booking through a company, USA Today College reports that Groupon has a spring break section and may offer good alternative deals.
Students consider locations and prices while researching spring break trips.
"We looked around at other destinations and prices, but Cancun was the best bang for our buck," Singer said.
According to ABC News, the top spring break destinations for college students in 2014 included: Cancun, Mexico, Panama City Beach FL, Las Vegas, NV, Jamaica; Miami, FL, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, South Padre Island, TX, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Nassau, Bahamas.
While there are certainly benefits to using a student travel company to plan a spring break trip, University of Maryland senior Amanda Nessel decided to book a spring break trip to Miami on her own.
Expedia is having a new Spring Break promotion offering discounted prices for hotels at top spring break destinations.
CNBC reports that not only are flights to top spring break destinations slightly less expensive in 2015 than 2014, but Expedia is having a Spring Break promotion.
Students choose to go on cruises and or alternative breaks the University of Maryland offers.
Rachel Diamond, a senior at the University of Maryland, booked a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas with friends.
"We booked a cruise because not only did we get a good deal, but you can also go to so many different spots and everything is all-inclusive," Diamond said.
Another option for students is to take advantage of the alternative spring break programs including the alternative breaks sponsored by STAMP, which are local, national and international projects and locations as well as Maryland Hillel, which offers spring breaks to national and international locations.
Whether the spring break is to a popular destination, on a cruise or an alternative break UMD students, with enough research and planning, can find good deals on spring break trips. Singer and her friends think the student travel companies provide not only the top experience but also competitive prices to popular destinations like Cancun while Nessel through research and planning was able to also book an affordable trip to another top destination, Miami, on her own.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Social Networking Apps Change The Way We Communicate
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Mobile devices are changing how we communicate from the way we receive news, interact with others to even going about our daily tasks. Even in social settings, such as dinner with friends, people are actively engaged and using their phones whether they’re checking their emails or scrolling through their Instagram feed.There are a variety of social apps ranging from dating to sharing videos. Sure, you can call, text message or video chat someone, but now there are so many other channels to communicate through. Want to show your friends what you’re up to? Send a Snapchat. Trying to figure out where to go out tonight? Check Wigo to see ‘who is going out.’ No time to date? Download an app. Think a friend would appreciate a picture? Tag them on Instagram.
While all these apps provide new forms of mobile communication it seems that users are more engaged in using their mobile devices and checking these apps than in actual social settings with face-to-face interaction. However, in a sense it does open up an interesting opportunity for news outlets.
The traditional news industry is struggling. The average consumer of news spends very little time on a news site or reading a print publication. However, for example, E! News or USA Today will post a photo with a caption and a link to the full article on Instagram. Other publications will tweet a quote, picture or a brief statement about a current event or article with a link to the full story. Snapchat aggregates live feed for events such as the X Games, the Golden Globes and even the recent blizzard, Juno. Snapchat also added a new feature called Discover in its most recent update that tells stories from different editorial teams.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Assignment 1
Mobile
devices are changing how we communicate from the way we receive news, interact
with others to even going about our daily tasks. Even in social settings, such
as dinner with friends, people are actively engaged and using their phones
whether they’re checking their emails or scrolling through their Instagram
feed.
There are a
variety of social apps ranging from dating to sharing videos. Sure, you can
call, text message or video chat someone, but now there are so many other
channels to communicate through. Want to show your friends what you’re up to?
Send a Snapchat. Trying to figure out where to go out tonight? Check Wigo to
see ‘who is going out.’ No time to date? Download an app. Think a friend would
appreciate a picture? Tag them on Instagram.
While all
these apps provide new forms of mobile communication it seems that users are
more engaged in using their mobile devices and checking these apps than in
actual social settings with face-to-face interaction. However, in a sense it does open up an
interesting opportunity for news outlets.
The
traditional news industry is struggling. The average consumer of news spends
very little time on a news site or reading a print publication. However, for
example, E! News or USA Today will post a photo with a caption and a link to
the full article on Instagram. Other publications will tweet a quote, picture
or a brief statement about a current event or article with a link to the full
story. Snapchat aggregates live feed for events such as the X Games, the Golden
Globes and even the recent blizzard, Juno. Snapchat also added a new feature
called Discover in its most recent update that tells stories from different
editorial teams.
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