Press Release
December 6, 2007
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Jerry Carey
(856) 566-6171
careyge@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ Physician Certifies that Santa is "Fit to Fly" on Christmas Eve
Pre-flight physical held at The Mall at Voorhees Town Center
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VOORHEES—Traveling during the holiday season is never easy, so how does a 550-year-old elf manage to fly around the world on a single night, with hundreds of millions of stopovers along the way?
"There's certainly a little magic involved, but a lot has to do with the fact that Santa does all the right things to keeps himself in great shape throughout the year," said Dr. Christopher Zipp, of the Department of Family Medicine, at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine. "Santa must be eating right and exercising, because he is still nimble and quick and easily handles those huge sacks of toys throughout his long Christmas Eve journey."
To help with Santa's annual preparations, Dr. Zipp visited Santa at Macy's Court at The Mall at Voorhees Town Center (formerly the Echelon Mall) today and gave Santa his annual pre-flight physical, certifying that the jolly old elf is indeed fit to fly this year. Along with Santa’s annual check-up, Dr. Zipp shared tips with children and their parents about how to stay healthy during the holiday season and throughout the year.
"Everyone knows that Santa loves cookies, but may be surprised to learn there are plenty of other, healthy snacks that good little girls and boys can leave out on Christmas Eve," Dr. Zipp said. "Carrots, celery sticks and sliced apples with peanut butter are some of Santa’s favorites. If all children follow Santa’s example by eating a balanced diet, drinking their milk and exercising every day, they be as healthy as he is, even when they get to be 500 years old."
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.
