Sikorsky Support Service Inc. held its Third Annual Health Fair Thursday and 90 percent of its 160 employees participated.

Tony Scott, SSSI community relations manager, said he was very pleased with the number of employees who took advantage of the opportunity to learn about any underlying health problems they might have.

"With the support of local health related agencies, we provide this free service to our employees each year," Scott said. "We want our employees to be healthy and we want them to be happy.

A healthy employee is also a much more productive employee, so the health fair benefits us all."

Scott said a variety of health checks were available to the employees. Edge Regional Medical Center conducted cholesterol checks and ERMC Home Health did blood pressure checks. Dr. Allen Dunn's office offered visual testing and testing for glaucoma.

Pike Internal Medicine provided materials with guides to health problems and Dr. Mickey DiChiara reviewed cholesterol screenings with the employees.

The Pike County Extension Office provided nutritional information and provided a visual aid that had employees a-gasp.

Dena Barnes, county extension agent, displayed five pounds of synthetic fat and seemed much more like 10 pounds.

"We thought it weighed more than five pounds, but we weighed it and it's five pounds," she said, adding that the glob of fat was five pounds of encouragement.

"Usually you think losing five pounds isn't that much, but, when you look at this, you know that when you have lost five pounds, that's a lot of weight," she said.

The American Cancer Society provided information on breast cancer awareness and mammography.

Other booths provided information on electrolysis and pharmaceuticals.

Dichiara said Pike Internal Medicine participates in health fairs because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

"Through health checks, people are alerted to conditions that could lead to serious problems later," he said. "By finding a condition now, it is possible to change your lifestyle in a way that will make you less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke when you are older. Finding out about a health condition early can make a huge difference in the outcome."

Blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol checks are very important and Scott said SSSI is committed to helping it employees keep healthy and happy.

"As long as our employees take advantage of the health fair, I feel sure that this is something we will continue to do," Scott said. "It just makes good sense to take care of your body and health checks are one way we can do that."

Scott expressed appreciation to the agencies that participated in the health fair.

"Without them, this would not be possible," he said. "We thank them for taking time to provide this service to our employees."