Healthier Food and Lifestyle Options for UAH Students Obesity is a growing factor in the United States. Data confirms that there is an increase in fast food dining facilities across the United States as well as a decrease in nutritional information. Without an immediate change in this trend, obesity among young adults, specifically college students, will continue to rise above average. Colleges and universities should start providing healthier food options for students to choose from, offer healthy living and lifestyle coaching for undergraduate and graduate students, and require general promotion of healthy living across the campus or university. The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) should offer healthier food choices for students, require healthy lifestyle information classes, and promote the University Fitness Center more often. Healthier students are better learners and this can lead to a more successful life for those students (Basch 593-598). The transition from adolescence to adulthood can be a very difficult one. Along with this transition, young adults begin making more independent decisions. One decision these people make is on what food they want to eat. According to the College and University Consumer Trend Report, there are nearly 16 million college students and the variety of healthy food only satisfies 28% of them. Also, 44% of college students surveyed in this report said their school’s dining program influenced their choice of school. In reality,
Being overweight, eating poorly, and not exercising are becoming an epidemic in America, especially among college students. Most of the research on it states the same things, however the first research article I found speaks more to the behavior and its current affects on college students’ health. A slew of doctors and Jesse S. Morrell wrote an article about “Risk Factors Among College Men and Women” in relationship to obesity. The opening of this article stated that “an estimated 300,000 deaths each year are attributable to obesity… and young adults have experienced dramatic increases in obesity rates,” (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). This statistic is what really got the research going and helped the researchers focus specifically on college-aged individuals. Upon diving into their research, the authors found more alarming statistics and related diseases. This included a recognizable relationship between obesity in young people and chronic disease risk, especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). In fact, CVD was the second leading cause of death in the US in that college-age group showing that our generation is at a greater risk for health problems than ever before due to our lack of exercise and healthy diets. Researchers then took to college campuses to examine students and their habits and provide risk assessments to promote healthier lifestyles and hopefully decrease the probability of CVD and DM through the metabolic syndrome system,
Perhaps the biggest factor that causes students to gain weight is the adjustment from eating at home to eating at college. A student from Chicago State University wrote in the school paper that, “Students in their first year away from home are sometimes not experienced in choosing foods or balanced meals” (French). The free-for-all campus style eating allows for unlimited choices of food and no parents to tell students what they can or cannot eat. Dietitian Ann Litt is also quoted in a Washington Post article in stating that, “the all you can eat concept in most college food services is an invitation overeat” (Linder). College dining halls are set up like fast food restaurants, and some even contain a McDonalds or a Pizza Hut. Fast food style eating really has no nutritional value, other than lots of fat and calories. In an article which examined the ways which students eat nutritional professor Christina Economos stated that more than fifty percent of students are eating too much fat, and seventy to eighty percent are getting too much saturated fat. She states that lack of fruit and vegetable consumption and the eating of mostly processed food is the main cause of weight gain among students (Linder). When students enter the dining hall they need to remind themselves that eating healthy is important.
Students are surrounded by unhealthy food off or on campus. In a research done by nutritionists, they came to a conclusion that students without meal plans wasted more money on fast food and consumed more fast food (‘Cost and Calorie of Fast Food’). This was all due to convenience of the students without meal plans, since they cannot get into dining halls, and most do not have time to cook or do not know how to cook, therefore they turn to fast food for a quick meal. Due to the fact that there are plenty of fast food restaurants on or nearby mostly any university campus in America. Researchers in the Cost and Calorie of Fast Food also conducted that the average students waste $71 on fast food and consumed about 12,000 of fast food per month (pg.944). People may say that it is the students fault for not eating right or wasting money on fast food, but it’s actually the colleges that deicide what type of food to surround its students with. There is no escaping fast food on a college campus in
Obesity is a common problem found across all demographics in the U.S., and is increasingly more prevalent amongst college age students. The “Freshman 15” is a real phenomenon that many young people face in their first year of independence from their homes. Students have their first experiences in choosing meals for themselves. One of the main reasons why college students put on this added weight when they leave home is the selection provided by their universities dining center. A quick glance at NDSU’s dining menus allows one to see that the deserts are what headline the menu, with the entrée options listed towards the bottom, as can be seen in FIGURE 1. This menu design influences the choices of the students; it subconsciously encourages
The United States of America leads the world as the country with the highest obesity rate. Obesity is a life threatening condition and a prerequisite for many other conditions such as diabetes. Along with causing life threatening conditions obesity can cause day to day problems such as lack of energy and poor mental performance. Both of these day to day problems brought on by obesity and poor health in general affect many students in school and adults in the workplace, causing low productivity and low moral in both students and employees. It is important for healthy habits, such as a healthy diet regular exercise, to be encouraged and required by teachers and employers through out the U.S to ensure every student and employee is working at their personal maximum performance.
On behalf of the students of Clackamas High School we would like to discuss the problem of feeding in our cafeteria. We noticed that lots of high schoolers consume unhealthy lunches everyday only because they don’t have a different option. That leads to weight issues and skin problems. Lots of students just don’t realize how many junk food they are eating during those four years of studying here. I believe that everyone is able to make their own choice but when you are hungry, you don’t really care about what to eat.
The myth indicates that first-year college students either gain fifteen pound from eating unhealthy or lose fifteen pounds due to not eating during their first years in college. We are all encouraged to take health class in college and learn about nutrients, but we can barely apply our knowledge to campus food. Cal Poly Pomona provides various options for food around campus, but not every dining space is healthy. As diligent students around campus, I believe the campus should improve its dining options. The common phrase: “You are what you eat” is highly emphasized in health class. I suggest the replacement of Round Table Pizza with healthier local restaurants that will serve students. Our campus does not serve fish to its students, but fish is high in Omega-3 fatty acids which boost body and brain functions. As students visually see the implementation of healthy food alternatives on campus, they will apply the knowledge from health class upon their diets. In health class, we were instructed to track our diets with the MyPlate. Through my food tracking on the website, I learned what food groups I was overeating and others that I was under eating. This website mapped out my goals for dairy, fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, calories and sugars intakes which enabled me to visualize my diet. I would suggest that Cal Poly Pomona offers the MyPlate as an option for students to do over a quarter of 0.5 units so students
Obesity in America is a very prevalent issue that is affecting all generations. According to the 2015 American Obesity study, more than two-thirds of adults are obese. This is due partially to oversized portions and processed food, however, one of the biggest reasons is the lack of good eating habits while growing up. In college, students go for the more convenient food options that are generally extremely unhealthy and processed. The lack of healthy food options for students hinders the ability to create good eating habits for later in life. Grand Canyon University should establish healthier food options in campus because it will help students eat less processed foods which are causing sickness and unhealthy lifestyles.
Julianne Tarullo, a journalist from the Huffington Post and press coordination of NBCUniversal Media, explains the nutritional challenges of a college student in her article “Nutrition in College: Answers From the Experts.” Weight gain, eating habits, fad diets, drinking, and weight management are some of the nutritional challenges that a college student may face. Tarullo’s article relates to a topic of why college years are a nutritional challenge, which is a topic discussed in chapter 7 of “Get Fit Stay Well.”
I decided to analyze the heath documentary, Hungry for Change. There are two reasons why I chose this particular documentary, which are, my education and health, and my family’s health. Personally, I am very interested in nutrition, health, and overall well-being. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I began to make better food choices and do moderate exercises. Now that I am in college, where I’m forced to make my own food, I’ve grown to love cooking and eating with organic and whole food. While I am in college, where there is daily access to a gym, I have all the reasons to be healthy and fit. To be a little serious about my health decisions, I decided to take a Nutrition course this semester to enhance my understanding about the
Although individuals can make their own decisions on what food to eat, people are surrounded by thousands of quick and easy fast-food locations that make it difficult to be healthy. When a person wants to eat healthy, they should be allowed to concentrate solely on good foods without any temptations. Instead, fast-food culture is everywhere, even in schools, advertising “high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar meals” (“Obesity in America”). Schools should get more nutritious food options that would actually excite children to eat better and encourage at least one healthy meal a day. Kelly Brownell, PhD confirms a definite association between obesity and “the ubiquity of bad food” (Murray), but it is difficult for the majority of people to quit eating unhealthy foods because they are ridiculously cheaper than foods such as fruits and vegetables. People of higher
The author is aimed to define whether college gain weight during freshman year by studying unmarried college freshmen who live on campus at a private university in northeastern U.S. The author collected information about social behaviors and weight by setting an online survey. The result shows that about half of the students gained weight while 15 percent of students lost weight. Although the results suggest that college freshmen do gain weight; however, the Freshman 15 was rare among all the respondents in this study. The average weight gain of the entire 125 eligible samples was 2.7 lbs. However, what should be noted is that the rate of the weight gain is almost 6 times that reported for the general population. It suggests the opportunity for health promotion
The obesity epidemic in America is ever increasing. It has spread across various age groups, areas and economic statuses. Obesity is the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. The spreading of the obesity problem has caused, “rates [to have] doubled in adults and tripled in children in recent decades” Dr. Frieden said (Hughes). This problem can be greatly reduced if schools took action in providing a healthy environment for students. In particular, Valencia High School can encourage healthy eating on campus by banning the selling of junk foods on campus and providing appetizing, healthy foods for the students to eat.
Every college student knows about the midnight pizza runs, unlimited food in the dining halls, the ice cream bar, the two-in-the-morning cravings, and that plethora of snacks in the dorm room. In college, students get to make their own life choices, do whatever they want to do, and eat whatever they want to eat. Unfortunately, many college students make poor choices when it comes to their eating habits. A large majority of college students gain weight over the course of their freshman year, and the fact that such an extreme weight gain happens is so significant that it has earned itself a lasting name: the “Freshman Fifteen.”
Obesity has risen over the years. The United States now has one of the highest obesity rates. Bad eating habits are usually the cause of this pandemic. For the past few decades, college dorm foods have led to these habits. The more unhealthy food choices are, the harder it is for people to resist these foods. Colleges serve a variety of unhealthy food in their dining halls that contributes to students’ lower GPA. By eating healthier, students can maintain a healthy weight, focus better in school, and increase their school performance to a higher grade point average (GPA).