Sanjana Musafir

Vitamin D is important during the teenage years because it helps the body absorb calcium, which is needed to build strong bones (National Institutes of Health [NIH], Office of Dietary Supplements, 2025). One national study found that about 9% of children and young people ages 1 to 21 were vitamin D deficient, representing about 7.6 million people at the time of the study (Kumar et al., 2009). Adolescence is an important period of bone development. During these years, bones grow and gain...

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a group of diseases that primarily affect people living in impoverished tropical and subtropical regions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), NTDs include over 20 different diseases caused by parasites, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and toxins. These diseases include lymphatic filariasis, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, and intestinal worm infections. They are known as “neglected” because they have historically received less...

There is more to a healthy lifestyle than just being physically fit. In fact, fitness is just one fragment of a much larger design. We often obsess over numbers on a scale while ignoring the other aspects of our lives. By viewing our health through the sense of an 8-piece puzzle, we can stop chasing perfection in one area and start building harmony across all of them. These eight areas include physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, spiritual, occupational, and financial...