Obesity on Campus
Colleges can play a big factor on how students receive the recommended daily serving to their weight as proven in “Obesity on Campus” by Phillip Sparling. Phillip states the number of obese students has risen within the last five years and this problem is being unnoticed. The standpoint on this issue is generally avoided until the professors notice the total of overweight students. He suggests that the media demonstrates the number of obese students but the issue is never taken into effect until after teachers notice the issues themselves. Health issues that are generally found in older adults are now being diagnosed in young adults from late teens to late twenties.
There has been very little effort in improving the prevention of obesity on college campuses. Phillip understands that this is not
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It is pictured that obesity is caused due to lack of wise eating habits. Phillip shows that obesity can be caused by poor nutrition, psychological, environment, and cultural influences. Some cultures eat large amounts of food containing high sodium. The high sodium will cause someone to be overweight, just like the lack of recommended amount could cause someone to be underweight. Culture plays a big role in if someone lacks or succeeds the recommended daily serving. Depression can also pertain to being overweight, people may fall back on food for comfort. Students are given large amounts of homework that can lead to stress. Just like the environment the campus has. Factors such as these can play an enormous amount as to why someone is overweight in college. Obesity can be caused by health issues; furthermore, more research should be done to find out how to prevent it genetically if that is the case. He believes that the puzzle should be solved to conclude how we can act on this progressing
Holzman, Paula. “PA Wants Schools to Battle Obesity.” Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA]. 10 Dec. 2003: A1.
In conclusion the moral of this story is simple- colleges should take more responsibility and initiative when it comes to the food choices and the health of their students. The college needs to offer better food choices in their dining areas. The hours of operation should be between normal eating hours so the option to eat at an unusual or indecent hour is obsolete, and proportions should be strictly regulated and enforced. While most would argue that it is the students fault for gaining weight, I believe the facts presented are obvious in pointing you in the other direction. The school has all of the power and needs to address this issue accordingly before the epidemic becomes bigger than what we can handle.
We need to acknowledge that our methods to control overweight and obesity may commence, but must not conclude with individual accountability. Only a number of diseases require a general approach, other than the effort to hold and decrease the levels of overweight and obesity, and in few places are the stakes higher. Employers seem to have accepted this and are attempting to develop programs to address it.
Experts who study the concept of the “Freshman 15” are deeply divided in their findings. Some downplay the significance of the problem of freshman weight gain, basing their findings only on the average weight gain among college students. In a study done by the Journal of American College Health, found that of the 59 percent of students who gained weight the average increase was only 4.6 pounds. They concluded their study by stating that they believed the Freshman 15 is a myth, based upon that premise (Graham, and Jones). The truth is that fifty-nine percent of the students studied did gain weight, and not all students are going to gain exactly fifteen pounds. Other experts do however believe that weight gain among college freshman is a very serious problem. Registered dietitian Ann Selkowitz Litt recently authored, “The College Students Guide to Eating Well on Campus,” which is designed to help college students make the right eating choices. On an online chat with several college students on USA Today’s website she stated that “College students now are gaining the "freshman 20" or "freshman 25.” She blames the growing problem on erratic eating habits, the drinking large quantities of alcoh...
The first and most obvious reason for weight gain is food. College cafeterias are smorgasbords of hot, greasy, fatty, empty calorie foods. At Seton Hall University, all freshmen are required to purchase a meal plan that comes with various amounts of Pirate dollars that can only be used on food. These Pirate Dollars are equal to one dollar and students are given an overage each semester. In order to avoid losing money, many students use these dollars to buy snacks in between all three meals. At the end of the year, the money is not refundable, so students must splurge once again in order to avoid throwing away their money. Whether students’ classes are far apart or back to back, they are likely to stuff themselves because they need to prepare to sit through about 3 or more hours of lecture, or their next class isn’t for another two or three hours and they plan to eat and “take a quick catnap.
One of the problems that cause weight gain is the lack of parental supervision over what the student consumes. In college, a student can easily stock themselves in fatty snacks such as Twinkies, cookies, chocolate, and chips. Also, the all-you-can-eat buffet seems to most likely run out of the pizza, french fries, and ice cream before the salad. A students schedule sometimes plays a factor in the consuming of too many snacks. If a student is in a hurry, he or she will grab a pop tart and be out of the door with a 200 calorie breakfast. A student should keep away from the high-fat snacks and concentrate on salubrious foods. At the cafeteria, a student should try to eat salads and attempt to eat new kinds of foods since the buffet has so much to offer. And for food on-the-go, one should try to buy healthy snacks or try to wake up earlier ...
According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident is that food intake is higher than the calories burned in physical activity. Excess of energy from food is stored in the body as fat causing an increase of weight. During the course of the last 40 years, obesity has grown enormously in the United States and the rates remain on the rise (pgs. 272-273).
Ogden, C.L., M.D. Carroll, B.K. Kit, and K.M. Flegal. "Overweight and Obesity in the U.S."
This chapter gives various social and biological reasons for the growing world-wide health concern of obesity. Name them and views - why is the reality of weight for most people so far from the cultural or societal ideal?
"Overweight High School Students." Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 May 2014.
Obesity is not a new notion or phenomenon in history. Centuries ago some cultures and societies saw obesity as the most noteworthy platform for wealth, social status, and sexual appeal. The influential Greek physician Hippocrates was among the first to record the negative effects of excessive weight and poor diet on the human body. While advancements in medicine and public health have helped improve life expectancy, obesity is becoming a silent yet visible threat to these milestones especially with the influence of technological innovation on the day-to-day of humans.
Neighbors, L., & Sobal, J. (2007). Prevalence and magnitude of body weight and shape dissatisfaction among university students. Eating Behaviors, 8, 429-439.
The psychological implications are that apart from foreshadowing obesity development, they also hamper the attempts to control and cut down weight. Combinations of environmental, psychological and biological attributes are responsible for obesity and many eating disorders. The psychological impacts such as anxiety and depression on an individual are dire and make the victims to find it harder to control their food consumption with poor physical exercise to maintain healthy weight. Eating food is actually a reactive behavior for copying by those who are already obese especially when they are anxious, sad, stressed, frustrated and lonely. Many overweight individuals therefore seem to be in constant cycle of emotional disturbance, with excess food uptake and weight increase.
Educational institutions have the potential to, first and foremost, educate and assist the young people of today with making the positive, healthful choices necessary to maintain good health. Over 4,500 students have been followed in recent research studies and these “thousands of sixth graders who participated in a school-based health program were less obese by eighth grade than a group of similar children who did not, according to a new study done for the National Institutes of Health” (Rabin). Schools need to create health programs focused on assisting all children suffering from being overweight or obese. Policies such as fitness programs, nutrition classes, and healthful meals can even impact every student by creating a strong foundation and awareness of the negative, long term effects associated with practicing unhealthy habits. Although the financial expenses would be necessary, the adaption of scho...
In today's society, poor nutritional habits are important for our overall health. It is especially a concern for college students, as they start to be an adult living on their own for the first time. Having freedom and living independently can affect one eating habit. As a responsible college student they have there own responsibility in choosing what to eat. College students can choose to eat unhealthy or healthy which can benefit them or affect there overall health. The health behaviors one choses in early life can often may continue to adult hood. Poor eating habits throughout life can lead to long term health problems which are chronic diseases, heart disease, stroke, and many cancers (ECT). "In the journal College Students' Barriers and Enablers for Healthful Weight Management A Qualitative Study" shows the majority of college students do not know or do not choose or care to follow healthy behavior guidelines. One example in the study shows eight universities in United States, which are Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, South Dakota State University, Syracuse University, Tuskegee University,University of Maine,University of RhodeIsland,and University of Wisconsin–Madison) only 5.7% of college students reported eating five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables. (Greaney, et al., 2009) Though there is concern about college students and their health behaviors, some research shows students living off campus actually have a higher risk for unhealthy behaviors. A research study by professors in North Dakota State University, states students who lived off campus were shown to have less nutrition in dairy ,fruits, and vegetables than students living on campus and who purchased a meal plan. Stude...