Access to quality food is essential for healthy physical and mental function, especially in the development and growth of children. Eating balanced meals is a great way to incorporate vitamins and minerals into everyday eating and helps promote healthy eating habits in the long run. Forming healthy eating habits and consuming a wide variety of food is very important in early stages of life, especially during the formative years of childhood. Eating a wide variety of food is a good way to ensure that the body is getting essential vitamins and minerals for growth and maintaining health.           A great way to optimize health and get needed vitamins and minerals is to make sure each meal is well-balanced. A well-rounded meal includes a variety of nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, different sources of protein, and healthy oils. Healthy eating patterns also involve limiting saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars, and ex...

          The dawning of Spring brings warmer weather, greenery, and floral blooms. The Spring also brings the opportunity to form new habits. Many people have the Spring ritual of decluttering, also known as spring cleaning. Whether or not it is already on your list of things to do this year, here are some benefits of decluttering your space and life. 1. Decluttering helps you feel more comfortable in your space Clutter usually means that you are confined to certain available areas in your space. In a study, Ferrari et al. (2017; 2018) revealed that excessive clutter reduced comfort and everyday experiences because of limited access to space and objects. 2. Decluttering helps with focus In addition to being able to access objects and spaces in your area, a clutter-free space also allows you to focus more. Physical environments can strongly influence our cognition and emotions. Fewer objects around you also mean fewer distractions. Visual clutter can reduce...

     With the Spring Equinox arriving, the season is changing, and the weather is getting warmer. But the end of March also brings the stress of midterms and major deadlines. Although many may think studying and reading as much as possible is the best way to finish the first half of the semester, professionals have a different opinion. Taking breaks and getting outdoors offers many psychological and physical benefits, helping cognitive capacity and mental health.      According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is not merely the absence of mental disorders or disabilities, it also involves the ability to cope with and handle the stresses of life (WHO, 2018). Mental health is our collective ability to think, interact with others, and express emotions. With the demands of midterm exams and deadlines, it’s important to recognize when the stresses are interfering with your mental health and that it’s okay to step away for a moment.  ...

  As a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting homeless or precariously housed students, we at the HIGH program feel it is a necessity to promote other non-profits with the aim of assisting the under privileged. Weekly, we will put a spotlight on organizations that are providing resources to those in need across the state.     Across the nation there are a good deal of crises that plague the lower class, and a multitude of organizations are scrambling to remedy these issues.     For instance, h ealthcare in the United States can be astronomically expensive for the uninsured. It can be difficult to even get a doctor to see you if you aren’t insured or if you don’t have good insurance. This is a problem that clinic directors from Michigan and Illinois recognized in 1996 when they came together to form the Free Clinics of the Great Lake Region (FCGLR).  The FCGLR was a seven state network of about 250 free clinics. Four years later in 2000, Michiga...

The beginning of October means midterm season is here, and the stress is enough to send even the best students scrambling. As mentioned in our last blog post , college can be a stressful time for students from all different walks of life; 45% of students list stress as a factor in seeking out counseling. But what about students who don't feel the need to seek out formal counseling, or those who are unable to access those services for any number of reasons? Whether you seek mental health assistance or not, taking care of yourself and managing stress is incredibly important. Although it may not seem like a big deal to push through stress and handle it on your own, stressors can compound over time and cause chronic stress  which according to the American Psychological Association , "may also cause disease, either because of changes in your body or the overeating, smoking and other bad habits people use to cope with stress." It's not just in the long run, either: mu...

Whether you're a freshman struggling to get used to campus life, a senior stressing about what lies beyond graduation, or anywhere in between, college can (without a doubt) be one of the most stressful times for students. A recent study by the American Psychological Association found that 61% of students across the nation seeking counseling report anxiety, with depression (49%) and stress (45%) following closely behind. Although these issues can affect anyone regardless of race, class, gender, or sexuality, it often times weighs very heavily on students who are homeless or precariously housed. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that anywhere from 20% to 25% of the homeless population in the US live with some form of severe mental illness (compared to just 6% of the overall American population). Harvard notes that " mental illness is often cited as a major cause of homelessness , illustrating a causative relationship that extends beyond mere correlatio...