Wellness2Vitality, a nonprofit organization founded by two Belmont High School students, hosted a workshop for community members of all ages looking to learn more about nutrition.
The event, titled “ Eat Smart, Live Well: Unlock the Secrets to Healthy Eating & Food Label Mastery,” featured Xuemeng Chen, a clinical dietitian at Boston Medical Center in Brighton. Chen talked about what balanced eating looks like for teenagers and adults, and offered tips and tricks for healthy eating to the 20 or so gathered at the library Saturday morning.
“I am so happy that I was able to contribute to this community,” Chen said. “As a dietitian, I only see adult outpatients, but here I feel like I can get more involved in the community with different ages and groups of people. Sharing my tips for everyone is very meaningful.”
Together, community members and students tackled the ins and outs of reading nutrition labels and learned how different nutrients affect muscle growth and other physiological functions.
Belmont High School sophomores Isabel Sun and Emily He founded Wellness2Vitality last year with the goal of fostering health education and empowerment in Belmont. Sun’s interests lie in health care, while He is more drawn to business, but the two share a common passion for nutrition.
“Healthy eating is something that’s so universal. Everyone needs to do it, so we thought this would be … a good idea,” Sun said.
With both in-person and virtual participants, Chen answered a variety of questions from community members, ranging from the newly released federal food guidelines to how to form healthy habits despite a packed schedule.
“[Seeing the participation] made me really proud, especially because we started from the ground up,” Sun said. “It’s heartwarming, and it makes me really proud to see our organization grow, and also it makes me really happy to see other people so engaged and so willing to learn more about healthy eating habits.”
The workshop was the organization’s third event since its founding. Sun and He also organized a first aid seminar in January and a Thanksgiving team-building event last November. With continued support and pointed questions from residents, the pair said it’s just the start of Wellness2Vitality’s impact in Belmont.
“It’s motivation to help us to grow, because it means people are interested in what we’re doing,” He said.
“I think with all the hard work and planning that we put into this organization and this event specifically, we’re so happy and we’re so glad that so many people came out and asked questions,” Sun said.
Wellness2Vitality will be hosting events on wellness and music, depression, and more in the coming months.
