The Health of College Students

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.

The University of a Florida offers meal plans for students who wish to have a meal ready for them rather than worrying about what they are going to eat, or perhaps cook, throughout the day. The problem with this idea however, is that students oftentimes do not take full advantage of this system. Whether it is cooking, eating out, or even going home on the weekends, there are several factors that can get in the way of taking full advantage of the meal plan. This dilemma often leaves families asking the same question: is buying the meal plan that is provided by colleges actually worth the money? While buying a meal plan for college appears to make sense for many incoming freshmen, it does not always translate into the most efficient use of

My article was about the dreaded freshman 15 and how it’s common for freshman students to gain weight during their first year. The article talks about if students actually gain 15 pounds just in their first year alone. Some studies have said that this is false, and the average weight gain is closer to around 7 and ½ pounds. While this isn’t so bad, the article goes on to show where all those calories will be coming from, and give tips as to how to avoid weight gain. The article mentions how to pick healthy food in the dining hall, and how to eat less while there. It advises also getting into habits of going to the gym and staying active alongside eating healthy. Lastly, it talks about snacking in between meals and drinking calories. The author

Therefore, schools and universities are the most appropriate places to implement wellness programs, since education is critical for developing healthy behaviors as well as improving the health of people, and help them establish life patterns that reflect healthy behaviors. “There is sound evidence linking healthy food and physical activity with academic accomplishment,” (CDC, 2014). Ensuring good health in students, faculty and staff can improve the overall health of the University of the Sciences’ community: Our students, upon graduating, will be prepared to enter into almost every area of the workforce. It is vital, therefore, to arm our students, our faculty and staff with the tools that will encourage us to live healthier lifestyles and take these habits back into our homes, our workplaces and the wider community.

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.”

Having bad eating habits can cause vastly eating disorders and illnesses. Students attending college that do not eat right are most likely to conceive an illness or become overweight. “An unhealthy diet is a major risk factor for becoming overweight and obese,” (McNight). Freshman 15 is most likely to get to the students that have This is something to think about when it comes to meal plans. The majority of the meal plans offered at any college are high in fats and calories. By consuming all of these foods you are more likely to having this problem.

College is a new stage in life with a new environment and maybe a different lifestyle. This makes it a prime opportunity to take control of a healthy lifestyle. Who would want to have the dreaded Freshman 15 (or even more)?

P., Ilich, J. Z., Dutton, G. R., Panton, L. B., & Abood, D. A. (2009). The freshman weight gain phenomenon revisited. Nutrition Reviews, 67(2), 83-94. doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2008.00143.x

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).

College life is a time full of fun, friends, activities, classes, and homework. All of these activities however, add up to a busy life style. Being busy is not in itself harmful but when the busyness becomes so great that it turns into stress, problems start to arise. The formation of stress leads to many unhealthy trends, such as lack of sleep, loss of immunity to disease, and a change in personality traits. How then can stress in the busy lives of college students be reduced? The answer is a simple one that has long been known; exercise relieves stress. Colleges across the country need to implement a program of required exercise classes to promote the well being of students.

In college, the health of the students is very important. The college, the students, and the parents all think about the health of that individual. Most colleges have health centers, but, in the dining hall, the college needs to think about the student’s health as well. Food is a very important part of any person’s life and the college wants to make sure that the food they are feeding the students is healthy and safe. The college is the one who finds a food company to serve the students in the dining hall. If the food company has a bad reputation or good reputation, most colleges pay attention to that. However, in certain cases, the food that is served in a college campus dining hall could not be good and cause something bad to happen. At a

I know that it is possible to eat healthy in college, but the biggest challenge I face is trying to resist the temptation of bad foods. The article 10 Easy Ways to Eat Healthy in College provides me with some much needed advice on how I can resist the enticement of unhealthy foods. I already stock up on healthy foods like high-fiber cereal, sugar free protein bars, and greek yogurt and I will sometimes take my fair share of fruit from the dining commons. I also tend to be closed minded when it comes to trying new foods, but I think experimenting with food and seeing how they make me feel is a good strategy to use. When I go into the dining halls I feel like I am limited to what I am able to eat because I am a pescetarian. Fortunately, the dining

After receiving our brief on Student Wellbeing on campus we had group meetings with the six of us to come up with concept, slogan, and ideas for events including our presence on campus. In order to carry out the brief correctly we set up a meeting with Declan Aherne who was our staff advisor. The first meeting with Declan was extremely beneficial as we received positive feedback on our initial ideas. However, as Declan was the head of the Counselling Service the first meeting focused mainly on this service. Declan advised us to go meet the other three staff members representatives for these services. Declan introduced us directly to Clare Kearns who is the nurse available in the Student Health Centre. This meeting was very beneficial to the campaign planning as she informed us that she wanted us to post general health tips on our social media so that students would gain their own personal knowledge on how to treat common health issues. We would also distribute

Take a trip down memory lane with me. The winter break following my first semester of freshmen year at the University of Maryland had begun. I returned to home to my family in New Jersey and within a few minutes I was aware of an unpleasant facet of my life. I had become out-of-shape. My little brother, lacking all inhibition as most children do, giggled and muttered, “You got chubby”. What had occurred? Well simply stated, the Freshman 15 is real. I found this statement to be bolstered by the fact that a few of my friends also reported similar comments from their family members. Moreover, aside from weight gain following these first one or two semesters, there are greater health related issues that permeate through the lives of young adults

College age students face different problems than the teens in high school. When students live in dormitories at a university or college, they eat on a meal plan. They usually do not have money of their own to spend on food at restaurants so the cafeteria regulates what food they eat. The cafeterias serve a lot of foods such as hamburgers or other meats with sauces and a lot of potatoes. These foods are very high in starch and cause of weight gain.