USU offers students dietian services
The Student Health and Wellness Center has two registered dietitians on staff who are available to help students with any dietary concerns they have, especially weight loss.
Brooke Parker and Amy Straley are both on the staff at the Health Center and treat about 20 students a week, Straley said.
Straley said physicians at the Health Center will often recommend students to visit with a dietitian after weight gain has led to problems with high cholesterol or diabetes.
“We see all kinds of students,” said Amy Straley, a dietitian at the Health and Wellness Center. “Most come in for help with weight loss.”
Straley said the problem of students gaining unhealthy amounts of weight is increasing.
“A lot of them are gaining weight because a lot of them aren’t eating enough of the healthy foods,” Straley said. “They are primarily eating empty calories commonly from fast food and soda.”
Grocery shopping on a regular basis can be a huge help in improving a student’s diet, Straley said, and a set schedule and suggested list of things to buy at the grocery store is one of the first things a dietitian will help a student with.
“[Students] don’t have enough time to cook. It’s not always fun to cook for yourself and it’s easier to eat out,” she said.
But unless students are shopping, it’s difficult to get the nutrients needed from eating out, she said.
Straley works mostly with student athletes, she said, while Parker specializes in working with students who are struggling with eating disorders.
“[Athletes] need more carbohydrates because they are exercising more. We don’t just teach them to eat more – we focus on what kinds of foods they should be eating,” Straley said.
It is important the university provide these services to its students, Parker said, especially considering eating disorders are most common among those of college age.
While Parker said she doesn’t feel eating disorders are a bigger problem at USU than other campuses, she said they are important to treat because, “This is the time of life when it reaches its peak.”
Other kinds of students Straley said she has seen include expectant mothers and students who simply want to know if they are on the right track.
“We get the biggest variety of students,” Parker said. “We see a lot of international students. Athletes are just a very small portion of it. We see all different types with all different needs.”
Often, students will come in for help because they are gaining unwanted weight and don’t know how to lose it, Straley said.
“Girls get frustrated because they don’t know why they are gaining weight,” she said, adding she doesn’t think the “freshman 15” is a myth. “They were more active in high school, maybe they were in sports, and now they exercise a lot less and eat constantly.”
“For students, the time they eat their meals is really random,” Parker said. “So we really recommend having snacks in their backpacks. Fruits and vegetables are best.”
Parker said she also recommends students carry a water bottle everywhere they go.
“I feel like [the freshman 15] is completely preventable,” Parker said. “It’s a frame of mind to live a new lifestyle.”
Parker said it’s important that students understand good nutrition because it will keep them alert and healthy while they are in college, but also carry on to the rest of their lives.
According to nutrition page on the USU Web site, nutrition is an important part of life, can improve grades, provide more energy, protect from disease and help manage weight.
“I like to get people at this age because it’s when they are discovering what type of lifestyle patterns they will have – from budgeting money, living on their own to creating a career,” she said. “I feel like this a great time to teach them to do simple things with their diet. Then they become habits they carry on in so many areas.”
Students don’t need a recommendation from a physician to make an appointment with a dietitian, Straley said, and should come in if they are feeling lethargic or tired.
“We are a really great resource and I feel students don’t know about it and don’t take advantage of it,” she said.
Students can make an appointment to visit with a dietitian by calling 797-1010.
Other nutrition facts and tips, especially for those who are vegetarian, can be accessed at www.usu.edu/shshome/nutrition.htm.
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu