Ever since 1995, National Health Education Week has been celebrated on the third week of October, which this year falls on October 20-24. The goal of this week is to promote understanding in the importance of health education in America. This week is recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and sponsored by the Society of Public Health Education. This year, NHEW will focus on recognizing the contributions from health contributors of those of the next generation. The goal of this is to demonstrate that health education will continue to become more relevant as the years go on.

There are many small things you can do to maintain good health. These include exercise, getting enough sleep, eating vegetables, drinking water, taking vitamins, and staying up to date on your shots. Small actions like this add up, and are good ways to ensure that you will live a healthy lifestyle. When it comes to these actions, consistency is most important.

In honor of NHEW 2014, EVALIA has provided multiple free health profilers for the public to use. Using these profilers is a great way to become aware of larger health issues, and your own risk of developing them. Below, we have described a few of the profilers that EVALIA has provided:

• Breast Cancer Risk Profiler: this profiler will estimate your personal risk of developing breast cancer, as well as identify your breast cancer risks and how to help improve them.
• Diabetes Risk Profilers: this profiler calculates both your current and 8 year risk for developing type 2 diabetes and metallic syndrome.
• Heart Health Profiler: with this profiler, you can compare your actual age to your heart’s biological age, calculate your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and see which your most harmful cardiovascular risk factors are.
• Lung Cancer Profiler: this profiler will allow you to be able to identify your lung cancer risk factors, and determine if you should get a lung cancer screening.
• Knee and Hip profiler: if you have knee and hip pain, this profiler could he helpful as it will determine how joint pain is affecting your life, assess how your knee and hip joints are functioning, and recommend follow-up steps for you

Check out the rest of the health profilers at http://medicomhealth.com/health-observance/national-health-education-week/.

Health is such an important aspect of life, so it’s equally as important that we stay educated on the topic and self-aware of our own health. This week is the perfect time to get checked up, and figure out what aspects of your own health you can improve.

Stay healthy!