Between balancing academics, sports, clubs and a social life, college students easily adapt to the “dorm room diet.” We live in a fast paced society and anything that can be thrown in a microwave or passed through a car window becomes a staple in their routine.
“Health is something that comes second, third, fourth (to college students),” said Nursing professor Dianne Van Arsdale. “Most college students are between the ages of 18 and 25 and you think you’re invulnerable. You don’t think anything’s going to hurt you.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Americans and stroke ranks as one of the top five. But America’s health problems probably do not keep the average college student awake at night.
“Heart disease and stroke are vascular related. Someone doesn’t just get clogged arteries at 30 or 40. It’s from a lifetime of habits,” said Chris Hirschler, Health Studies Professor. Hirschler says that these two diseases are strongly linked to diet.
“There are autopsy studies done on young people who die less than ten years of age that have significant arthrosclerosis,” said Hirschler. Arthrosclerosis is the hardening of the arteries.
Diabetes is also climbing the ladder as a leading health problem in the country. “Every year I have students with diabetes in my class. That was unheard of when I was in nursing school when I was twenty. No one had diabetes at twenty,” Van Arsdale continues, “Ten year olds are getting it.”
Health should be ranked as a higher priority for young adults. Erin Mutz, Nursing Major at The University of Texas at Tyler said, “College students need to start adapting to a healthy lifestyle now because what we do in our twenties will set the stage for the rest of our lives.” Recently, Mutz has lost over forty pounds after ditching her fast food diet for more nutritious options. “Working with patients in the hospital made me realize it was time to do something about my health. I knew I didn’t want to be the nurse with high blood pressure and diabetes and I knew I didn’t want to wind up like some of the patients I cared for.”
Students should become more aware of what they are putting in their bodies and how it can affect them in the long run.
“I knew if I continued down the path I was on that I would not be able to live the life I dream about… I knew that I was the only one that could do something about it,” said Mutz.
“You should eat up nine fruits and vegetables per day,” Van Arsdale continues, “It’s hard to get that in a college diet.”
Do not let living in a dorm room stop you from taking control of your health, there are things you can do now to avoid health problems later.
“The first tip would be to start to become informed in terms of preparation. That’s a skill that’s lacking in our fast-food culture, they often don’t know how to prepare things. So I would say spending a little bit of time learning a bit about preparation,” said Hirschler.
“The best advice I can give to other college students that want to eat healthy on a budget is to plan for your meals so that you don’t have to resort to fast food. Planning for your meals at home also means you know exactly what you are putting in your body,” said Mutz. Also limit the number of times you let yourself eat out each week.
“Eating out costs way too much, you can easily drop $15 on yourself after tip at a restaurant. That $15 would have bought you food at the grocery store that would last longer than one meal,” Mutz continues, “You can choose to set yourself up for a long healthy life or one that is ruled by laziness and unhealthy food.”
“It’s better not to wait until you’re already sick,” said Van Arsdale. Prevention is key when it comes to health and illness, so why not start now?
