The College Diet and Its Effect On Eating Habits
Food -- it is a necessity. There is not one person who does not think about it on a daily basis. For a college student, the quality of food available is not always to the highest of standards. Many students can not afford to buy expensive food or eat out on a regular basis. Many times their only option left is to eat from their school’s dining halls.
The transition into college can be one of the most exciting times in a young adult’s life. They are starting a new chapter in their lives that may have a lasting effect on their future. Many new friendships will be made, along with countless amounts of changes in their life including new habitat, change in income, workload amounts, and eating habits.
Change in eating habits is one of the most significant changes a college student experiences. There are many different factors for this change such as being away from home and home-cooked meals, late night snacks, increase in alcoholic beverage consumption, along with the fact that many college students now have a meal plan to eat at their college dining halls.
At Northeastern University, the Dining Services Department works very hard to try to accommodate the many different needs of their students. Bill Fantasia (Director of Residential Dining), failed to respond to several attempts to set up an interview regarding the dining hall’s healthy aspects, however, research and trips to the dining hall provided information on the options offered.
Many college dining halls have a limited amount of diverse foods. The presence of healthy foods may sometimes only be the salad bar. The lack of healthy food, along with the idea of having an endless supply of the food offered during e...
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...genetic, environmental, and social factors. College-life includes many of these factors and occurs more often in college-aged females than males. Another fact is that the males in college tend to dine more frequently at the school's dining halls than females.
About 43 percent of males surveyed eat 10-15 times a week at Northeastern’s dining halls; whereas only about 14 percent of females do. However, 50 percent of females surveyed eat 1-4 times a week, whereas only 7 percent of males eat 1-4 times a week.
There are many books out for college students, if they are interested in eating well while living at school. One such book is called the College Student’s Guide to Eating Well on Campus by Ann Selkowitz, M.S., R.D., L.D. This book describes the basics of nutrition, along with why the freshman 15 occurs and how to avoid it and other healthy eating techniques.
Racette, S.B., Deusinger, S.S., Strube, M.J., Highstein, G.R., & Deusinger, R.H. (2005). Weight changes, exercise, and dietary patterns during freshman and sophomore years of college. Journal of American College Health, 53(8), 245-251.
When I arrived here at college I was extremely disappointed with the selection of food here in the cafeteria. I frequently found myself eating only hamburgers and pizza over and over again, simply because I did not like the other choices. About four months into the school year I had do go to the doctor for a virus and when the nurse weighed me I was a little surprised by what I saw. I had gained a little over ten pounds, close enough to what some refer to as the “Freshman 15.” It is a common fear among college students that they are going to gain fifteen pounds during the course of adjusting to college life. However experts have stated that the idea of the so called “Freshman 15,” is not that accurate. Every college student is obviously not going to gain fifteen pounds. However I believe that it is possible and it is a problem for many college students. College life completely changes eating habits among college students. Most students do not make the right choices about eating and exercising. College students across the country are severely unhealthy in their behaviors, and for some students the “Freshman 15” may be a reality.
With an unlimited meal plan and buffet-style meals, do we students know how big our portions should be? If we are accustomed to being served super-sized portions, we might not realize when we are serving ourselves over-sized portions in our dining halls. In fact, researchers have found that increased portion size is an even greater problem in cafeteria settings like ours, noting a positive association between larger food receptacles and increased consumption(2). A correlational study at Cornell found significant weight gain in freshmen during the first twelve weeks of school and identified that both the “all-you-can-eat” dining hall style and student snacking on “junk-food” were key variables explaining a positive linear relationship with weight gai...
The first and most obvious reason for weight gain is food. College cafeterias are smorgasbords of hot, greasy, fatty, empty calorie foods. At Seton Hall University, all freshmen are required to purchase a meal plan that comes with various amounts of Pirate dollars that can only be used on food. These Pirate Dollars are equal to one dollar and students are given an overage each semester. In order to avoid losing money, many students use these dollars to buy snacks in between all three meals. At the end of the year, the money is not refundable, so students must splurge once again in order to avoid throwing away their money. Whether students’ classes are far apart or back to back, they are likely to stuff themselves because they need to prepare to sit through about 3 or more hours of lecture, or their next class isn’t for another two or three hours and they plan to eat and “take a quick catnap.
It depends on what specific situation the student is stuck in to determine which foods they 're living off. My assumption of their daily meals is first, breakfast is one piece of fruit and a breakfast sandwich from a fast-food joint. Then, lunch or dinner is one entree of pizza, fried chicken, or a burger. Occasionally the student may snack off a bag of chips or a candy bar, but other than that, I can’t say that most students are eating healthy; I’ve seen at my college snacking mostly on chips while taking a break from class. Luckily, there some solutions to help to change the eating habits of the students. I discovered in Victoria Li’s article “Easy Diets for College Students” some helpful tips for the struggling students. She suggests “While opting for burgers fresh off the grill seems tempting, adhere to the habit of filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables, then filling the remainder with whole grains and lean protein” (2). In other words, it’s okay to have a greasy burger, but just as long you have something healthy to go with it, leading to a good balance of protein and energy Li says. As for the students going hungry because of their tight budget, some colleges or nearby locations may have meal donors. Li mentions in her article about the importance of not skipping meals as she says “Feeling famished due
One of the problems that cause weight gain is the lack of parental supervision over what the student consumes. In college, a student can easily stock themselves in fatty snacks such as Twinkies, cookies, chocolate, and chips. Also, the all-you-can-eat buffet seems to most likely run out of the pizza, french fries, and ice cream before the salad. A students schedule sometimes plays a factor in the consuming of too many snacks. If a student is in a hurry, he or she will grab a pop tart and be out of the door with a 200 calorie breakfast. A student should keep away from the high-fat snacks and concentrate on salubrious foods. At the cafeteria, a student should try to eat salads and attempt to eat new kinds of foods since the buffet has so much to offer. And for food on-the-go, one should try to buy healthy snacks or try to wake up earlier ...
In all the freedom and choices a college student can face, food is a major one. The campus cafeteria selection...
For students who refuse to be part of the stereotype, or gain weight at all throughout their college years, skipping meals and dieting comes into play. Eating disorders can plague students as well. According to The Kellogg Report: the impact of nutrition, environment, and lifestyle on the health of Americans, without the more watchful eye of a parent, students with eating disorders may be more apt to go unnoticed for a longer period of time.
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).
As a new freshman entering this Community College, you will be discovering and experiencing many new things about the world in which you live and yourself. The jump from high school to college can be a very scary but exciting experience. I have some valuable advice for you on how to make this transition smoother and an enjoyable experience rather than a scary and lonely one.
The nutrients that they get from food are what contribute to help all the systems in their body function properly. In their first year, students are in a transition phase between the kind and amount of nutrients they used to get at home and the ones they are getting in college. Instead of helping students make a smooth transition, the food that is offered in the meal plan makes it rough for them. This rough transition occurs mainly occurs because the meal plan 's food does not have high nutritional value. Consequently, the results of the rough transition reflects on the student 's health, academic performance, and athletic performance. For instance, Kelly Harris, a first-year student-athlete, said, "It would be easier to eat healthier without meal plans, that’s for sure.” When you have meal plans and you can eat at the school’s buffet. People do not tend to eat the healthiest of foods prepared when so many delicious, rather than nutritious, options are served. A correlation between fifteen pounds of weight gain and the college freshman year has been made because of meal plans. Many of the meals provided to students with meal plans are not quality meals, just innutritious food. They are prepared ahead of time and have been sitting out. That does not sound healthy or appetizing to me. I think that eating unhealthy food, such as the food provided by the meal plan, is not benefiting my energy level. It could
It is evident that the freshman fifteen is a social problem and health problem. Freshmen hear about it in tons of magazine, blogs, and articles. Parents and friends are all constantly presenting the issue by saying watch out for the freshman fifteen. This problem is caused by the increased amount of alcohol, fats, carbohydrates, fast food and cafeteria style food. It can lead students to be overweight, obese, and have many health problems. Students have the freedom to eat when, how, whenever they want, and there is no one to tell them what to eat or when freshman should stop. Going to college is a significant change from being in high school. Many times, being in a new environment and balancing classes can lead to the quickest and easiest eating options; these may not always be the best.
After doing some research over Marie and Pierre Curie I was able to put together this paper. This paper contains information about the life of Pierre and Marie Curie and their significance to physics and science in general. Pierre and Marie Curie are best known for their pioneering work in the study of radioactivity. The couple’s work led to their discovery of the elements radium and polonium (Dick).
As students transition from high school to college, and are learning to make adjustments to start living on their own and how to deal with the stress of class, dietary health is usually one of the first things to be put on the back burner. Because of this, my behavior change is to start focusing on my dietary health and to start taking it more seriously. I found that the article Systematic Review of Dietary Interventions with College Students: Directions for Future Research and Practice to be very helpful and relatable.
College students struggle to find accessible healthy meals. This inaccessibility may derive from insufficient funds, scheduling or the inability to cook. In Owensboro, the cheapest foods tend to contain additives and unnecessary byproducts. Healthy foods sit on the shelves, students struggle to afford the fresh foods or cannot cook with them. A young person may leave healthy options at the store for convenience food sources often results in said person eating an unhealthy diet. Finding healthy foods with a college time schedule and budget presents a challenge to many students. Students attempting to eat healthy on a shoestring budget, and cook a meal on a tight schedule often give up. Many surveyed college students eat less than 2 servings of vegetables a day (Rao 1). During their college years college students develop eating habits that can follow them throughout their lives. Eating fruits and vegetables contributes to healthy young adults and possibly promotes emotional well-being (White 1). Many college students eat out because it is cheaper and faster than eating at home. Processed foods tend be more available and cheaper, activly going out and buying better foods tends to be more expensive.