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By Tracey Fox Most college students leave their home, where meals are prepared each day by their parents, to enter a new world where they must fend for themselves. "Many students are accustomed to having their meals prepared for them at home, at regularly scheduled times," said Dr. Elizabeth Droz, director of the university counseling center at Binghamton University in New York. "Others have learned to prepare their own meals, but usually with food that has been purchased by heir parents. Once at college, however, they must change their customary eating habits." At Utah State University, some students find that with classes, studying and other activities, time is valuable and there is not enough of it to spend cooking three full meals a day. "I'm really a health nut, but the downfall of being a college student is that you usually only cook for one person, so you end up eating the same thing for a week," said Alissa Hansen. "Most of the time I don't really even eat meals, I just eat constantly throughout the day." This lifestyle change that occurs when entering college can have many effects on the student body that may eventually be carried on throughout adult life as well. "Lifestyle habits established during the college years can have an enormous impact on health and well being, as well as the risk for developing obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer," said Dr. Eric S. Freedland, a former faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine. "Adapting to the stress, hectic schedule, emotional challenges, new found freedoms, numerous choices, as well as changes in physical activity and eating patterns certainly play large roles in determining our fate." In order to help promote better health and nutrition among Utah State students, the university created the Student Health and Wellness Center, which offers general health information for men and women. Brooke Parker, a registered dietician and Utah State graduate, has been consulting students at the center for over three years. The Student Health and Wellness Center not only has professionals to answer questions, but has easy nutrition tips on its website as well. The tips include eating regularly, eating smaller portions, drinking more water and exercise, exercise, exercise. Although it can be difficult to maintain healthy eating habits, because of busy school schedules, there are students who try to have a healthy balance. "I try to take healthy food to campus with me when I know I am going to be there all day, going to meetings or just studying," said Ashley Stolworthy, a Utah State student. "Either that or I try to buy healthy food while I'm on campus, so I'm not eating hamburgers all of the time." Many Utah State students also work on being healthier by exercising regularly at the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) building, Nelson Fieldhouse, or by participating in sports and other activities outdoors. "The Fieldhouse is a good place to work out, because there are a lot of different things you can do," said Sarah Timms, also a Utah State student. "I usually go to step aerobics, yoga or I'll just run for awhile." After working out, students can also refer to the Wellness Center's website for vegetarian information, eating disorder information and a list of websites for fitness, nutrition and health and recipes. Because it can be difficult to know exactly what and how much to eat, specialists in the nutrition and food science department recommend using the Food Guide Pyramid for reference. "The Food Guide Pyramid has been proven to be the best way to maintain proper nutritional balance while losing and maintaining weight. This consists of eating from all the food groups -- grains, fruits, vegetables, meats and milk while consuming sweets, fats and salt in moderation," said Nedra Christensen, Utah State extension nutrition and food science specialist and Amanda Larsen from the nutrition & food science department. "It is important to be cautious of portion size and find a calorie level that is right for your body and activity level. It is suggested that you consume 1,600-2,800 calories per day, depending on gender and activity level." Another source that students can refer to is the Nutrition Navigator, a rating guide to nutrition websites that was produced by the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman school of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University. Aside from the sources mentioned there are many more sources on and off of the Utah State campus that students can refer to for good nutritional advice, in order to have more balanced college lifestyles. NW |
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