Fit or Fat?

Healthy diets disappear on campus

March 10th, 2010
By Valeree Dunn

Being a traditional college student is a lot like being homeless.  Students never have much money, they sleep on makeshift beds, and they never really know where their next meal is coming from.

Cooking devices aren’t allowed in the dorms and full-service kitchens aren’t available to the freshmen and sophomores living in them.  If students live in the townhouses, they may be a little better off with a kitchen and full size appliances, but who has the energy to cook for just themselves? 

Every once in a while, urban legends float around about the boy who got malnutrition from living off ramen noodles, or the girl who overdosed on energy drinks.

The University of Illinois at Springfield Director of Nursing, Lynne Price, said that these instances are rare on this campus.  They’re more commonly found when there’s a bigger problem going on, like an eating disorder.
Still, she said that there are some fundamental problems with the dietary habits of most students.

“Students just don’t eat well generally,” Price said.  “I think students tend to eat things that are quick and easy.”

Many traditional students aren’t used to preparing meals for themselves, and even if they do, cooking for one isn’t easy. 

Preparing food can also be time consuming, and most students are already fighting exhaustion by dinnertime after a long day of sitting in classes, studying, and socializing. 

Students don’t always have the access to nutritious food.  For students who don’t have cars, going to the grocery store isn’t an option. For students who live in the dorms, preparing food isn’t an option even if they could get to the store.

Price said that students tend to choose food that they think is more mobile.  For instance, it’s often easier to carry a bag of chips or a candy bar on the go instead of a salad and a yogurt. 

“It’s really easy to pop something in the microwave instead of [making] a salad,” Price said.

Many students just aren’t making healthy choices, even when they have the option in front of them.  French fries, pizza, and cheeseburgers seem to be the staples of many students’ diets.

One student, who asked to remain anonymous, admitted that he knew his diet wasn‘t exactly healthy.  “I ate eight McDoubles [cheeseburgers] yesterday,” the student said.

And for students on a budget, spending a dollar a piece on eight cheeseburgers is kind of a bargain.

This kind of diet, although cheap, is high in calories, fat, and sugar.  Price said that most students don’t know how bad this kind of diet really is.
“They have no idea how much fat is a lot,” Price said.  “If you start looking at labels, it’s appalling.”

Many times, students who lead unhealthy lifestyles don’t realize their mistakes.  College is a time of transition and change.  Amidst busy schedules and stressful atmospheres, students’ dietary habits are usually the first to be neglected.

Tyler Gladu, a sophomore at UIS, said that he eats most of his food on campus either at the PAC or The Grille.

“Normally I just get a cheeseburger and fries, or a sandwich,” Gladu said.  “I like the choices because I’m a picky eater and most of the food I like to eat is unhealthy.”

The PAC Food Emporium has made some changes to their menu in the past couple of years.  They quit using foods with as much sodium and have expanded their food choices to include a salad bar, fruits and vegetables, and other healthy options.  They still serve fried food, though, which is what many students gravitate towards.

“It’s really hard to eat healthy when the unhealthy foods come so much quicker,” Gladu said.

Making the transition to a healthier lifestyle really isn’t as hard as most students think.  Price said that eating healthy is easiest if students plan and prepare beforehand.

For students with access to a kitchen, it’s easiest to cook meals beforehand and freeze them in individual portions.  Grocery stores are now selling many healthy items in individual and portable portions as well.  For instance, a 100-calorie pack of popcorn can easily be cooked in the Food Emporium’s microwave, replacing what would have been a 300-calorie bag of chips.  Students can also prepare low-fat snacks in sandwich bags to take on the go in lieu of hitting up a vending machine between classes.

“They can select healthier foods and they can select smaller portions,” Price said.

Carrots cost less than a bag of potato chips, and they can be just as mobile if prepared and placed in a sandwich bag.  Low-fat yogurt is another cheap and healthy option; some eight-ounce packages come as cheap as 60 cents a pop and have less than 200 calories.

Fruits and vegetables are key factors in a healthy lifestyle and can quickly transform poor dietary habits when replacing fatty, unhealthy snacks.  Other cheap, filling, and healthy meals can include basic staples like spaghetti, rice, and beans.

Price suggests students should try to eat a variety of different foods to get the nutrition and energy they need.  Price also said that it’s important that students exercise most days of the week to help fight an unhealthy lifestyle. 

Eating smaller portions and making healthier choices, even in a small way, is the first step to getting students’ dieting habits back on track.  Eating healthy is as simple as getting creative with the options and resources students have available to them.