Free Health Fair is Saturday at Marketplace Mall

January 24, 2006

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Free health screenings for glaucoma and high blood pressure and free tests for cholesterol and blood sugar will be available this Saturday (Jan. 28) at Marketplace Mall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Participants will also get a chance to learn their body mass index, which is computed from weight and height and determines whether a person is underweight, overweight, or obese..

The fair, called “Share the Health,” is being organized by students at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The health fair is designed to encourage the medically underserved to become active participants in their own health care.

For Hispanic participants, translators and information in Spanish will be available.

Health care professionals will offer free health and safety information on such topics as sickle cell anemia, bone marrow transplants, women’s health, adult health, pediatrics, mental health, exercise and nutrition, childhood obesity, and blood donation.

Everyone who attends can win a door prize by getting a “passport” stamped at each table. People completing the passport will be eligible for a larger prize.

“Share the Health” is sponsored by Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Materials and staffing for the screenings are being provided by the Medical Center’s Wellness and Corporate Health Services.

Marketplace Mall is on Peters Creek Parkway, one block north of Silas Creek Parkway.

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Media contacts: Robert Conn, rconn@wfubmc.edu, Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, or Shannon Koontz , shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-4587.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. U.S. News & World Report ranks Wake Forest University School of Medicine 30th in primary care, 41st in research and 14th in geriatrics training among the nation's medical schools. It ranks 32nd in research funding by the National Institutes of Health. Almost 150 members of the medical school faculty are listed in Best Doctors in America.

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