Obesity Among University Students

In America, obesity proves to affect at least one third of the adult population. This itself is substantial but obesity also leads to other diseases that would be detrimental to individuals such as, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain types of cancer. These deaths are the ones that are preventable if people paid greater attention to their nutrition, exercise and their weight. Unhealthful changes: Intake of sugars, soft drinks, cheese, cream, and fats and oils has increased.” (Sarafino 197). These unhealthful changes have been noticed especially with students who are in university as they are away from home, which results in unhealthy eating. Many individuals are self-conscious about their weight “in childhood and adolescence, particularly if they are overweight and are teased and excluded from social groups (Rosen, 2002; Zeller & Modi, 2008). (Sarafino 201). As this is the case people who are overweight or seeing risk factors of obesity should be more careful in their weight control and diet. If one’s BMI is close to 25 or higher they would be considered overweight or obese if over 30. (Sarafino 201). There are many factors that come into play if one is obese; like biological and psychosocial factors. Exercise is one of the most important components when controlling weight. “One of its benefits is that it increases metabolism, thereby helping the body to burn calories.” (Sarafino 209). As obesity is still an issue in our present day, individuals who are more susceptible should be more careful with their nutrient consumption, how they control their weight, and engage in daily physical activity.

The quality of life we live relies heavily on what we eat. For this reason, ensuring that we get the right quality and quantity of nutrients- carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, minerals and fiber (not a mineral but necessary in digestion) is critical. All of these can be obtain from our diet- the food we eat. However, of late, successfully consuming adequate nutrition seems to be somewhat of a challenge for many university and college students. As a result, Nutrition is one of the many causative factors that feature prominently in their obesity and overweight problems. During research, the discovery was made of many articles of studies done on the Nutrition of university students - what they eat, do not eat but should eat and the factors which contribute to this and how it relates to obesity among them.