In the 21st century university and college students are driving themselves in a
dangerous direction, by establishing unhealthy eating habits, which are leading to
unhealthy lifestyles. It all begins with young children in elementary school where
they form bad eating habits. Today parents pack their children’s lunch and
include a small lunch snack. Parents who don not make their children lunch, give
them money instead. “In a typical high school with more than 1,000 students, the
cafeteria would sell only three to five pieces of fruit in total per day” (Winson,
2008). This only shows the extent that society has driven young children to.
Thirty five percent of the foods purchased by student, does not have a lot of
nutritional value (Winson, 2008). In today’s society, children are constantly
bombarded with advertisements which draw children ”towards unhealthy foods”
(Winson, 2008). Cafeterias struggle to provide too much healthy foods because
there are places around the school where children are capable of purchasing
junk food. Therefore for the cafeterias to make money, it is important for them to
keep up with competition and provide the same junk foods they are capable of
purchasing outside the school, in school (Winson, 2008). "Unless kids are
properly educated, they're going to choose junk over healthy food at school and
at home," (Why are schools selling junk food to kids, 2008). By children not being
educated in their youth, it creates bad habits when they get to university, habits
that may be sometimes difficult to overcome. This is only the beginning of what is
expected to be an unhealthy lifestyle for the child, not just today but specifically in
the future. “People who are overweight when they're younger have a greater
likelihood of being overweight as adults” (Hirsch, 2007).
Today students whose current residence is on campus find themselves in a
situation full of freedom, laziness and unhealthy eating habits. As explained in
the previous paragraph most “eating and physical activity habits are usually
established early in life“, but also the fact that students live away from their
parents, has a huge influence on their food choices (Typical eating and physical
activity habits of Uni. students, 2005). A study shows “female students who
leave home to attend first-year university or college are significantly more likely to
start binge eating than peers who stay home to attend school” (Binge-eating
triples among university students away from home: study, 2007). This is due to
the stress and the introduction to this new environment they have been brought
to. This is expanded in this idea of “Freshman 15”, which explains that students
in their freshman year are likely to gain the infamous 15 pounds on average
because of their bad eating habits -- ordering pizza, subs and Chinese food for
dinner every night and snacking in between” (Yamada, 2003). This is an
important idea because most students gain their weight in their freshman year
(Hirsch, 2007). This happens because when students are given the freedom of
living on their own for the first time; most are tempted, because they are free to
eat whatever they wish, in any portion, and at any place or time (Hirsch, 2007).
Most of the foods they choose to experience this newly found freedom is with
junk foods like fries, burgers, ice-cream and snacks. Students may have the
perception that they are eating healthy, by eliminating foods like red meats, but
without the realization that they are compensating for that food with foods like
cheese and baked goods which are as bad as the red meat (Hellmich, 2002).
Today in Universities almost every student living on residence chooses to
purchase a meal plan. The meal plans can range from $1000-2000 or even
more. When I asked Kiran, a UTM student living on residence what the meal plan
incorporated? She explained “the meal plans include most of the cafeteria and
almost any coffee shop or food place on the University of Toronto Mississauga
campus” (Kiran, 2009). After taking a look at the Cafeteria menu, which is mainly
used by residence students, they had provided many possible healthy food
items, but there was one noticeable issue. Most of the healthy food items
provided on the menu tended to be more expensive, which in a sense is
understandable, because more nutritional products are incorporated into the
food, but do students pay attention to that? When I asked Pinaz, a UTM student
what she prefers to eat, she replied with a food item filled with calories and
unhealthy additives. “If I had a choice between a healthy green salad or a burger,
I would choose the burger because I know it will keep me full for longer, after all
with all the tuition we have to pay, we need to find some way to save money”
(Pinaz, 2009). It is understandable that “most students are too busy to cook their
own food and too busy to exercise” but these habits can be reversed by students
exercising and watching what they eat (Yamada, 2003).
There are many situations in today`s society happening which affect the
eating habits of university students. Stress having the most effect, can lead to
students over-eating, or not eating at all. Both situations leading to an unhealthy
lifestyle (Stressed out? Junk food won't help, 1994). Students today may be stuck
in their dorm room, under a huge weight of pressure mainly due to exams, or
schoolwork. So in order to deal with the stress some eat high fat foods and gain
weight, while others eat less, and avoid the proper proportion of protein and
vitamin intake, both leading to potential health problems (Stressed out? Junk
food won't help, 1994). University and college norms make stress inducing habits
like lack of sleep and cramming as normal, without the realization that it does
create bad health practices (Hudd, and Dumlao, 2000). Televisions are another
factor that influences university students eating habits. “Television's role comes
in the form of the 30-second ads for fast food restaurants, snack foods and other
high-fat foods that may taste good, but leave a long-lasting, bad aftertaste”
(Boodhan, 2009). So, if students were to spend any time in front of a television,
how can they not be affected? Other things like alcohol and smoking can only
further encourage bad health and eating habits. When coming to a university,
students consume large amounts of alcohol including beer, without the
realization of the number of calories they carry and the potential weight gain
(Hirsch, 2007). On the other hand, cigarettes on the other hand make activities
like running, exercising or even walking difficult and in some cases almost
impossible.
Despite many bad habits, there are students who come to college with a
“healthy lifestyle”, where they are active, and eat the right proportions of food
each day, and try to keep up this healthy lifestyle (Hellmich, 2002). But at the
same time “almost 70% of students get fewer than the recommended five
servings of fruits and vegetables each day” (Hirsch, 2007). This is a large portion
of the student body. “Campus vending machines and cafeterias are filled with the
foods that make students fat” but despite the awareness of this problem, schools
cannot afford to only sell healthy foods (Why are schools selling junk food to
kids, 2008). The problem is that most school cannot lose out on the potential
profit, therefore they highly focus on junk foods (Why are schools selling junk
food to kids, 2008). Now, it all depends on the individual, and the decisions each
university student makes. Students who are eating large portions, or not paying
attention to what they eat, can gain a few pounds which soon will lead to
“obesity, diabetes and other health problems” (Binge-eating triples among
university students away from home: study, 2007). As a society we are aware
that these health problems can be avoided only if students were to start eating
right, but the issue is too many students are ignoring “traditional balanced meals
for fast food on-the-go” (Human Nutrition). College and university students need
to understand the right way to balance schoolwork, their social life and mainly
the needs of their bodies, in order to create a healthier current and future lifestyle
(Hudd, and Dumlao, 2000). Bad habits are not only ruining a person’s body, but
they are also affecting how student’s focus. Their school work, their intelligence
level and even a student’s memory could be affected by their intake of fries,
burgers, pizza and any other kind of junk food available (Yamada, 2003). Just
by eating more fruits and vegetables, lower cholesterol, and even increasing iron
levels can both help improve students study habits (Yamada, 2003). Today there
are many workshops and programs, which aim to create a healthier society.
These are not only created for the purpose of solving an issue but more, for the
purpose of making students aware of the issue. An example of this is Guelph
University who decide to develop a new degree which focuses on teaching
individual students about “becoming personal fitness and nutrition instructors
how to prescribe exercise and diet to an unhealthy population” (Graham, and
Popp, 2008). But these programs cannot help the individual. Individual students
need to want to and be motivated to make that change (Clarke, 2008). “Smart
eating is what makes you smart in the long run and keeps you healthy at the
same time” (Yamada, 2003). So, for our future it is important to eat healthy, think
healthy and stay healthy for a long and healthy life.
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