2008 Woodie Awards
Students lack fruits and vegetables in diet
Joey LeMay
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: News
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.
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.