Nutrition
For many students, college is the first time living away from parents. Along with the fun comes a lot of responsibilities. It is common for students to “raid” the dining halls and constantly refill plates because there are so many good choices that may not be there tomorrow. Although students claim to be worried about the “freshmen 15,” most students do not actively monitor the nutritional value of the foods they are eating. To be healthy, you have to eat healthy. Below are some helpful tips and also some ideas for food on campus.
Solutions
Eating in the Dining Halls
Recently Purdue has started adding more selections to the menus in the dining halls. Dining halls try to keep a few healthy options and one or two vegetarian options available each day, however it is hard to know how to create a well balanced meal with all these options. Good nutrition will keep you energized, help you concentrate and enhance your memory. All of these things will help you during your college career. Some tips on how to eat healthy in the dining halls are below:
- Use the food guide pyramid to help you get the right balance of foods
- Most of your diet should be made up of grains, vegetables and fruit
- Whole grain items are healthier because they have more vitamins and fibers than more processed foods.
- Stay away from canned fruits and vegetables because they contain added salt or sugar. Try to stick to fresh or frozen.
- Eat more vegetables than fruit
- Eat a few servings of low fat dairy and lean protein rich items.
- Stay away from snacks high in sugars, oils and fats.
- Put less on your plate than you think you want, you can always go back for more if you’re still hungry.
- Eat a variety of different kinds of foods. Foods with different textures and chemicals have different nutrients and it is important to have a mixture of nutrients in your diet
- Avoid fried foods, they add extra fat to your diet. Try to go for baked or grilled foods.
- Do not completely eliminate any food groups. You need all of them, and giving them up can sometimes lead to overeating from that group later.
The American Dietary Guidelines
- Aim for fitness
- Aim for a healthy weight
- Be physically active every day
- Build a healthy base
- Let the pyramid guide your food choices
- Choose a variety of grains daily, especially whole grains
- Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables daily
- Keep food safe to eat
- Choose sensibly
- Choose a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and moderate in total fat
- Choose beverages and foods to moderate your intake of sugar
- Choose and prepare foods with less salt
- If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation
For more in depth information on the guidelines, click here.
Breakfast
Breakfast is one of the most skipped meals, however we all know that skipping breakfast is not the right way to go. It lowers energy throughout the day and makes you more susceptible to snacking between meals. If you are in too much of a hurry to eat breakfast, or do not like eating breakfast, try keeping some yogurt smoothies or high fiber cereal bars that you can take with you on your way to class.
Athletes
As with other students, the key to a healthy diet for athletes is everything in moderation; however for an athlete, the caloric intake needed to sustain weight is a lot higher than for nonathletes. A 180 to 200 pound male needs between 4,000 and 4,500 calories per day. There are many athletic trainers on campus who will help with what to eat and how much.
Find out how to use the Food Guide Pyramid
Food on Campus
There are many dining halls and markets on campus that offer a wide variety of healthy choices. Click Here to get to find hours and locations. The Union also houses many places to eat on the ground floor. Click Here to go to see some of the options. If you’re tires of campus food there are plenty of places off campus that offer nutritious food that deliver. Some of these include; Subway, Jimmy Johns, Boiler Market and Moe’s.
Sources:
Donze, Jessica R. “Healthy Dining Hall Eating.” TeensHealth.2005. Nemours Foundation. Jan. 2004 http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/college/dining_hall.html
Johnson, Sarah C. “Purdue Dining Halls Give Students More Choice, Nutrition.” Purdue University News. 16 Mar. 2005http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/2005/050316.T.Johnson.dining.html
Lee, Jeanette J. “Colleges go the Fresh Food Route.” Ventura County Star 28 Jan. 2005: 11
Ojanpa, Brian. “Experts on Sports Nutrition Advise College Athletes on Eating.” Associated Press 23 Nov. 2004.
Rosenbloom, Chris. “Well Stocked Dorm Room Gives Student Healthy Start.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitiution 11, Nov. 2004: 8K
Sutherland, Dianne Z. “Eating Healthy in College.” UMass Dining Services Nutrition. http://www.umass.edu/diningservices/nutrition/eating_healthy.html
“10 Healthy eating Tips for the Busy College Student.” University of Oregon. http://healthed.uoregon.edu/10tips.htm
(2000) Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Retrieved April 14, 2005, from United States Department of Agriculture Web site http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/DietGd.pdf
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