CSUN health students worked with the Northridge Academy High School to organize a health fair for high school students Wednesday.

“The fair is about informing students on how to be safe and healthy,” said Denise Aguinado, a Northridge Academy senior. Aguinado is part of the leadership and direction on the administration of health services class at CSUN, which has helped with the Academy’s health fair for the past two years.

“This is one of their class requirements, doing community outreach,” said Caroline Mitchell, a Northridge Academy teacher. Mitchell has helped run the fair for the past seven years, with the help of her own students, who gain “service learning hours” for their work.

The fair featured a number of different booths representing organizations from and around the CSUN campus. The Blues Project, J.A.D.E., Project Date and the Klotz Health Center were all present to talk to students about a number of different health issues.

Dietetics student Qundeel Khattak worked at the Klotz center table, which had a display on correct portion sizes, the amount of sugar in certain popular drinks and had a device that showed students their amount of body fat.

“They seem really interested in finding out their body fat and the idea of portion distortion,” Khattak said. “I remind them that they shouldn’t worry about their body fat, since their bodies still have a lot of growing to do.”

Besides nutrition, students could talk to officials from the Department of Public Health, who hosted a booth about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Public Health Investigator Sally Chan explained the importance of talking to high schoolers about such health risks.

“Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are the two biggest STDs among teens,” Chan said.

She was also offering students the opportunity to order at-home STD testing kits from the website DontThinkKnow.org. The free test are also available at any nearby clinic.

The event was overflowing with students, most from P.E. and Science classes according to Mitchell. They danced to the music from the DJ, and participated in a scavenger hunt which required their interaction with each booth. Students also had the chance to win prizes from a raffle, and dance during a lunchtime Zumba session.