Students on campus may be bettering their lives by getting a degree, but in the process, may be harming themselves as well.
There is something to be said about the way college students spend their time: bouncing from class to class, noses in their textbooks, maintaining their social lives and for some, working a job to help pay the bills.
Nowhere does it say "make sure to get your five servings of vegetables per day."
"A study done on campus a few years back showed that 80 percent of students eat two or fewer fruits and vegetables per day," said senior Emily Johnson, who is studying community health and interning at Health Promotions in Student Health Services.
What all this food talk boils down to is that students have all the nutrition they need on campus; it's just a matter of them making the right choices.
Giovanni Antunez pulled out some basic information amongst some advanced literature in his office.
"Students need to remember the principal of eating five a day - five fruits and five vegetables," said Antunez, an SCSU professor in nutrition. "They need to make an effort to have one banana a day or one apple; those are very easy choices."
The premise of this statement was directed at those who live in the dorms and travel to Garvey Commons to eat their meals.
Sophomore Leah Kurtz spent last year in Mitchell Hall and knows full well the challenges of eating during the day, let alone eating right.
"I must say my eating habits were not my highlights," Kurtz said. "Garvey, being my 'parent substitute,' made it easier to eat too much one day and not enough the next."
The problem Kurtz faced is nothing new according to Johnson.
"Garvey is a buffet-style kind of eating. Students need to watch their serving sizes and make good choices about the foods they eat," Johnson said.
This could mean that going to Garvey could be more important than simply eating - it means planning ahead and knowing what you need to eat to get the vitamins and nutrients you need for the day.
"I know Garvey serves fruits, salads and other healthy things; that is not the issue for students - the food is there," Antunez said. "But it's all about the students choosing to eat those kinds of foods. Perhaps get more fruit when you are in line and less of the fattening entrée, for example."
These choices seem to be in the heads of students, but acting on them is not always the outcome.
"Garvey offered a variety of foods throughout the day with having the options of fruits and salads," Kurtz said. "A lot of the variety only seemed good to help us gain weight, though. But I suppose it was not what was offered but how much you ate."
Portioning sizes seems to be the struggle with buffet-style eateries. Knowing what you want is easy. However, moderating what you want seems to be problematic.
"We're taught it at an early age (about) serving sizes and trying not to over-eat," Johnson said. "Applying it is tough, though."
Antunez pointed out the 'serving size' and 'servings per container' portion of a nutrition label.
"This is so often overlooked," he said. "People may look at and even read it, but they don't apply it."
It could very well be that many people see a one-half cup serving size but have no idea how to measure its equivalence when standing in line at a buffet.
"It's very simple," Antunez said. "One handful of something is about half of a cup. By making a bowl with your hands you can measure a cup of something."
Doing these would not only help gauge how much to eat but also how much of a fruit or vegetable is considered one serving.
It will also safeguard you from feeling the effects of having poor nutrition.
"If you're not eating right you might feel tired all the time," Johnson said. "You're going to feel lazy and waking up will always be a chore."
Antunez said we could very well be seeing the effects on campus if we just look around.
"Looking around campus I would not be surprised if there were students suffering from anemia. I see people, many of them female, with pale skin and dark circles under their eyes."
Anemia can occur when the body does not have enough iron. Iron helps red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. Without the oxygen, the skin will become pallor, or lack its natural color.
Students can, however, do something about it by taking their health into their own hands and not necessarily placing it in the hands of Garvey.
"Students can keep food in their dorms - good food," Antunez said. "Foods like apples and bananas can be kept easily. Also, seeds, peanuts and dried fruit."
"Keeping a box of Total cereal for snacking on when you have a craving isn't bad at all," Johnson said. "Making some hard boiled eggs in a dorm kitchen is a good idea, too."
In a broad sense, students have no excuse to have more impressive waist lines than grades.
"You can choose to eat healthy or you can choose to eat unhealthy," Kurtz said.Joey LeMay
Staff writer
Students on campus may be bettering their lives by getting a degree, but in the process, may be harming themselves as well.
There is something to be said about the way college students spend their time: bouncing from class to class, noses in their textbooks, maintaining their social lives and for some, working a job to help pay the bills.
Nowhere does it say "make sure to get your five servings of vegetables per day."
"A study done on campus a few years back showed that 80 percent of students eat two or fewer fruits and vegetables per day," said senior Emily Johnson, who is studying community health and interning at Health Promotions in Student Health Services.
What all this food talk boils down to is that students have all the nutrition they need on campus; it's just a matter of them making the right choices.
Giovanni Antunez pulled out some basic information amongst some advanced literature in his office.
"Students need to remember the principal of eating five a day - five fruits and five vegetables," said Antunez, an SCSU professor in nutrition. "They need to make an effort to have one banana a day or one apple; those are very easy choices."
The premise of this statement was directed at those who live in the dorms and travel to Garvey Commons to eat their meals.
Sophomore Leah Kurtz spent last year in Mitchell Hall and knows full well the challenges of eating during the day, let alone eating right.
"I must say my eating habits were not my highlights," Kurtz said. "Garvey, being my 'parent substitute,' made it easier to eat too much one day and not enough the next."
The problem Kurtz faced is nothing new according to Johnson.
"Garvey is a buffet-style kind of eating. Students need to watch their serving sizes and make good choices about the foods they eat," Johnson said.
This could mean that going to Garvey could be more important than simply eating - it means planning ahead and knowing what you need to eat to get the vitamins and nutrients you need for the day.
"I know Garvey serves fruits, salads and other healthy things; that is not the issue for students - the food is there," Antunez said. "But it's all about the students choosing to eat those kinds of foods. Perhaps get more fruit when you are in line and less of the fattening entrée, for example."
These choices seem to be in the heads of students, but acting on them is not always the outcome.
"Garvey offered a variety of foods throughout the day with having the options of fruits and salads," Kurtz said. "A lot of the variety only seemed good to help us gain weight, though. But I suppose it was not what was offered but how much you ate."
Portioning sizes seems to be the struggle with buffet-style eateries. Knowing what you want is easy. However, moderating what you want seems to be problematic.
"We're taught it at an early age (about) serving sizes and trying not to over-eat," Johnson said. "Applying it is tough, though."
Antunez pointed out the 'serving size' and 'servings per container' portion of a nutrition label.
"This is so often overlooked," he said. "People may look at and even read it, but they don't apply it."
It could very well be that many people see a one-half cup serving size but have no idea how to measure its equivalence when standing in line at a buffet.
"It's very simple," Antunez said. "One handful of something is about half of a cup. By making a bowl with your hands you can measure a cup of something."
Doing these would not only help gauge how much to eat but also how much of a fruit or vegetable is considered one serving.
It will also safeguard you from feeling the effects of having poor nutrition.
"If you're not eating right you might feel tired all the time," Johnson said. "You're going to feel lazy and waking up will always be a chore."
Antunez said we could very well be seeing the effects on campus if we just look around.
"Looking around campus I would not be surprised if there were students suffering from anemia. I see people, many of them female, with pale skin and dark circles under their eyes."
Anemia can occur when the body does not have enough iron. Iron helps red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. Without the oxygen, the skin will become pallor, or lack its natural color.
Students can, however, do something about it by taking their health into their own hands and not necessarily placing it in the hands of Garvey.
"Students can keep food in their dorms - good food," Antunez said. "Foods like apples and bananas can be kept easily. Also, seeds, peanuts and dried fruit."
"Keeping a box of Total cereal for snacking on when you have a craving isn't bad at all," Johnson said. "Making some hard boiled eggs in a dorm kitchen is a good idea, too."
In a broad sense, students have no excuse to have more impressive waist lines than grades.
"You can choose to eat healthy or you can choose to eat unhealthy," Kurtz said.
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