Unhealthy options dominate food choices on campus

November 11, 2009
By Benjamin Voloshin
Columnist

Benjamin Voloshin

UIS needs nutritional reform.

Food options for students are limited on campus with the only food sources in Founders Hall our healthiest options on campus are usually smothered in cheese or some other type of sauce. At “Cooks Nook” in the PAC, it is common to see a side of broccoli coated in cheese sauce to make it seem more enticing. In fact, two tablespoons (30 g) of cheese sauce usually consists of about 60 calories, whereas a cup (243 g) has about 479 calories.

Unfortunately there are no secrets when it comes to our physical health. In reality, it’s a balance between genetics, a healthy diet, and physical exercise. Students may believe that as long as we have the Recreation and Athletic Center (TRAC), our health can sustain our poor decision-making when it comes to our diets.

A student choosing Bosco Sticks (at about 420 calories per pair) or six mozzarella sticks (at about 109 calories per pair) over an apple or an orange, which cost 75 cents apiece, is an example of poor decision making.
Students have evidently failed to understand that fruit is not only healthier than much of the remainder of either menu, but it’s cheaper too.

And in the way of unhealthy snacks, students are offered a wide variety and are therefore more popular than the healthier alternative. For example, nachos with cheese are incredibly popular, but also contain about 346 calories. The addition of jalapeños brings that figure up to about 608 calories and roughly half the fat needed in an entire day.

Students at the Capital Grill barely have any options in the way of healthy snacks, and the monotony of the limited healthy selections we do have (like sandwiches and wraps) is frustrating.

In fact, freshman Jessalyn Fontana said that taking the healthy route is hard for her. “I often have a battle in my head whether to have a cinnamon roll or red peppers for a snack. But usually I stick with the peppers,” she said.

Fontana had to request the peppers since they are not on the overhead menu.

The overwhelming selection of unhealthy options makes it that much more difficult for students to take the nutritious route. Perhaps it is because of this that the Capital Grill may use up to 40 lbs of waffle fries or up to 4.5 gallons of cheese sauce each night to satisfy the unhealthy cravings of students.

In a survey last year, The University of New Hampshire collected data from a nutrition course and found that about 60% of 800 male students had high blood pressure, while 6% suffered from metabolic syndrome and other diseases.

The combination of such health problems lead to heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. The data showed that just over two-thirds of women in the class were lacking in iron or calcium, and that two-thirds of the class was either overweight or obese.

In response, UNH’s Joanne Burke, director of the University of New Hampshire dietetic internship program, reported to Forbes Magazine that the school will examine ways to change student behavior to assume the healthier alternative, while providing more portion-size education and blood pressure screenings.

"When a child is in grade school or high school and a parent decides not to buy healthy foods, we can't do a lot," she said. "But in college, we can reach them."

If the UIS administration were to go to such measures to ensure the health of the students, we could have an entirely new campus.

But the administration is not solely at fault. The demand for these fatty foods is so high. The Grille must always have enough to supply students with high-fat snacks. If more students were to request and actually purchase healthier items then the university would subsequently be forced to accommodate. 

There will be no change at the Grille or at the PAC unless there is a change in sales.

This is why we have to value the responsibility we have to ourselves and our own health over convenience. We need to have the willpower to choose the healthy option.