Healthy Lifestyle: Might Not Make It

Healthy Lifestyle: Might Not Make It

By Amarachi Iwuh

It’s 8 p.m. You have a three-page paper due by midnight; an organic chemistry test to study for and your stomach is speaking in tongues. Looking at your blank Microsoft Word document, you begin to freak out because your hunger is discouraging you from getting a start on your assignments.  In hopes to ease your hunger pains, you open your fridge only to find pools of water, a jar of jelly, a bottle of ketchup and a near- empty carton of milk.  And Asher Roth says in his hit song that he “loves college?”

Many students come to colleges nationwide fearful of the notorious “Freshman 15.” However, they often have trouble living a healthy lifestyle with limited or expensive options in campus cafeterias.

“The healthy stuff is way more expensive and causes me to go over my meals for the week,” said Olivia Kirby, a sophomore majoring in sociology at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Many food options on campus are high in sodium and saturated fat and deficient in whole grains, fortifying vitamins and nutrients. Studies show that students on average gain three to 10 pounds during their first two years of college. A majority of this weight gain occurs during the first semester of freshman year.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition, “People who eat more vegetables and fruits as a part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases.” Some students say that it’s hard to meet the recommended guidelines of 3-4 servings of vegetables and fruits each day. This includes students at Howard University in Washington, D.C., who complain that options are limited in the Annex Cafeteria as well as the Punchout and dining hall at Blackburn Center.

Sodexo, the catering company to many universities in the D.C. area claims that it is committed to “world-class food and facilities services” and that it is leading the “charge towards change in areas including sustainability, diversity and inclusion, wellness and fighting hunger.” According to George Washington campus dining services manager, Richard Yokely, Sodexo has been working closely with students and campus administrators to create an environment that is uniquely GW. This is done by holding focus groups with various student organizations and conducting bi annual customer satisfaction surveys.  

With a mission so focused on food justice and healthy eating for students, one would think Sodexo was capable of catering to the specific eating habits of each student:

“I transferred here from another university in the fall semester, and I’ve had a hard time adjusting to fruit and salad bar options,” said Valerie Previl, sophomore biology major at Howard. “My previous school’s salad bar had everything from edamame, to Romaine lettuce, to slice beets, to feta cheese,” Previl said. “Howard never has those options. Iceberg lettuce isn’t healthy lettuce, so regardless if I put the shredded carrots and cheese in my salad, my salad will still be terrible.” In efforts to include students in on the process of pursuing a nutritional lifestyle, George Washington University administrators invite dieticians to visit the campus once per semester in addition to the nutritional recipes they display with each meal.

With an inadequate range of fresh fruits and vegetables, vegetarians struggle with keeping an interesting “non-meat” lifestyle on campus.

 “Being a vegetarian here was not difficult, but it wasn’t fun either,” said Jade Wisansky, a sophomore telecommunications major at Howard, “It’s almost as if you have to hunt for acceptable meals, and most weren’t appetizing.”

At Northeastern University in Boston, M.A., Sherri Furtado admits that she isn’t much of a healthy eater, but says that options are adequate on his campus, “They do have a room for vegans and vegetarians, also a gluten-free section.”

   Lately, Howard University student groups have been requesting outside caterers for various events on campus that could supply them with diverse and healthy foods. In effort to re-gain the rapport with Howard students, Sodexo hosted an expo, “Flavors,” in December to showcase their newfound sustainable, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.

For more information on nutrition and healthy eating habits in college, log onto: eatright.org.