Doctor Shares Healthy Lifestyle Tips with Elementary School Students

PALM COAST, Fla. June 30, 2016 On June 22, Florida Hospital Flagler sports medicine physician Dr. Sonia Millan visited Wadsworth Elementary School to speak to 210 students involved in the 21st Century Community Learning Center about the importance of exercise and healthy snacking.

The 21st Century Community Learning Center is a free academic enrichment program for qualifying students at Bunnell, Rymfire and Wadsworth elementary schools.

During this event, Millan emphasized the health benefits of exercising 60 minutes each day and choosing healthy, non-processed snacks. She gave the students examples of healthy choices and did an interactive exercise activity with them.

Healthy does not equal gross, Millan told the students. There are so many delicious and healthy snacks to choose from, and they come from the earth, not a factory that's why fruit is called natures candy.

Millan is a board-certified family medicine physician with a specialization in sports medicine. She has been with Florida Hospital Flagler's Orthopedics and Sports Medicine physician group since November 2015. She strongly promotes physical activity and a healthy lifestyle for all of her patients, and she shared this passion with the students of the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program.

This speaking engagement was the first of many to come, as Florida Hospital Flagler was named a premier health sponsor for Flagler County Schools 21st Century Community Learning Centers earlier this year.

This is the first year for 21st Century Community Learning Center in Flagler Schools. It is part of a five year, $2.5 million grant which provides students enhanced academic and social education experiences while supporting the language art, math, science, and health benchmarks under the Florida State Standards.

About Florida Hospital Flagler

Florida Hospital Flagler is a member of Adventist Health System, a faith-based health care organization with 46 hospital campuses and nearly 8,200 licensed beds in 10 states. With 99-beds, Florida Hospital Flagler is one of the six Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties that composes the Florida Hospital East Florida Region. As the largest hospital system in the area, the Florida Hospital East Florida Region has 907 beds and nearly 6,000 employees. With a mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ, the Florida Hospital East Florida Region collectively contributed nearly $120 million in benefits in 2015 to the underprivileged, the community's overall health and wellness and spiritual needs, and capital improvements.