Repercussions
For too many students, moving to college means pizza, French fries, Spaghettios and developing habits that could have effects on not only their campus experiences, but the rest of their lives.
Eating poorly during the dorm years will have its toll on students and their productivity as they are trying to study, work and have social lives, said USU Clinical Professor Janet Anderson.
“One of my main concerns is they’re not going to feel good,” Anderson said. “If they put bad fuel in the gas tank, they’re not going to be able to perform as well in everything they have to do.”
According to a study done in 2000 by Tufts University, 60 percent of all American college students ate too much saturated fat and 59 percent of students said their diets had gone “downhill” since they started classes.
Anderson, who teaches in the department of nutrition and food sciences, said students who lack in making healthy eating choices risk gaining weight and getting sick. Anderson said students who don’t make healthy habits risk facing severe problems. Long-term effects of eating foods high in calories and fat may lead to heart disease, cancer, arthritis, sleep problems and gout, which is painful inflammation of the joints, she said.
Poor diets may also lead to diabetes, which can eventually cause blindness, necessary amputations and kidney disease.
With tight schedules, lack of nutrition knowledge and mothers who cook for them, Anderson said some students turn to McDonald’s and Wendy’s or the Junction, Marketplace and Hub dining areas where they can find nachos, tacos and hamburgers. This can lead to weight gain and for some, the “freshman 15.”
Researchers at Cornell University recently found that the average freshman student gains four pounds during the first 12 weeks of college, an amount that is 11 times higher than the typical weight-gain of 17- and 18-year-olds.
“There is a lot of information on the ‘freshman 15’ and they do tend to gain weight,” she said. “Students who live in the dorms suddenly have endless access to food like pizza and desserts, and they have a hard time finding a happy medium between what’s healthy and what’s not.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2000 that one in five college students are overweight. Some of this may be because since many students don’t know how to cook and they turn to fast food.
Nick Lambert, a senior in physics, said he eats out at least once every day, and mostly at fast food places like McDonald’s and Arby’s. Frequent meals include a double cheeseburger and medium fries or a roast beef sandwich.
“I have so much to do and eating healthy takes too much time,” Lambert said. “I think a lot of students eat poorly because they’re worried about doing everything else.”
Lambert said he takes vitamin supplements to try to make up for what he’s missing and when he doesn’t eat out, he usually eats food he can zap in the microwave.
Anderson said many students with limited budgets eat fast food because they think that eating healthy is too expensive. However, even though going to drive-through restaurants are cheap ways to eat, most of that food is extremely high in calories and fat. A Burger King Whopper with everything contains 700 calories and has 13 grams of saturated fat, about a third of the average caloric intake for a person.
Students should be focusing on eating foods that will help them feel good and it’s possible even if they don’t have a lot of money, Anderson said.
“Most college students eliminate fruits and vegetables because they say it’s expensive to eat healthy, but heart disease and diabetes coast a whole lot more,” Anderson said. “And when they add color to their lives, they’ll be adding nutrients.”
Not only do many students lack in fruits and vegetables because they cost more, Anderson said, but they don’t know how to use them. She said some students will buy in bulk and aren’t able to eat everything before it goes rotten and then they don’t want to buy it at all after that. This can be a problem when students purchases bags of fruits and vegetables and gallons of milk.
Serena Ellsworth, a freshman in animal science, said she thinks it’s possible for students to have a well-balance diet so long as they’re getting a little of everything and making sure they make nutritious choices.
Ellsworth moved to Valley View Towers a week before school started and said she has been eating at the Junction, where they serve the typical “teen menu” of pizza and tacos, as well as a wide variety of other choices.
“You could eat a balanced diet just from the Junction,” she said.
She did say, however, that most students have junk food in their rooms that they can snack on. This could downplay the good choices they make if they are eating too many sweet and salty foods.
If students want to eat healthy, Anderson said one step they can take is to write everything down that they eat for a few days and then look at it. She said they can also visit the Web site www.MyPyramid.gov, where they can put in their age, sex and activity level and get recommendations on what to eat. The site also list tips on how to get enough of each food group.
Students can also visit the Health and Wellness Center, where they can get individual help from a dietician, Anderson said.
-mnewbold@cc.usu.edu