Wednesday, September 16, 2009
When Wes Bauer goes grocery shopping, he picks up some lunchmeat and bread, a couple of slabs of steak and a bag of pretzels. Sometimes he’ll grab an apple. Maybe a bunch of grapes.
Graphic by Michelle Sprehe.
But never vegetables.
“I just eat what I enjoy,” Bauer, Topeka sophomore, said. “I don’t really care about the whole pyramid stuff, to be honest.”
The food guide pyramid has changed its shape and modified a few serving sizes in the last decade. However, the necessity of vitamins and nutrients for a healthy diet has remained the same.
And so has the college student diet, which is often void of important nutrients because TV dinners and pizza have taken their place.
“Students are notorious for not eating a lot of fruits and vegetables,” said Ann Chapman, coordinator of nutritional services with the Wellness Resource Center.
Although Chapman said the best way to get nutrition is through food, she said students often lack either the funds or motivation to eat right.
She said students tend to miss out on four key nutrients: Vitamins A and C, iron and calcium.
If you aren’t getting the nutrition you need from your food, or, like Bauer, don’t care for leafy greens or squash, Chapman recommends one-a-day multivitamins, which come in formulas designed both for women and for men. She said to look for the “USP” label on vitamin bottles, which stands for United States Pharmacopeia and ensures a higher quality of vitamin. The Watkins Health Center Pharmacy carries more than 50 varieties of supplements, including the multivitamins for both men and women and various doses of vitamins A and C, iron and calcium.
Natalie Baer, St. Louis freshman, takes a multivitamin twice a day. She takes an iron supplement too, and a couple of other pills to boost her nutrition.
Baer also starts each day with a bowl of Kashi cereal with some blueberries or blackberries and milk. She eats a veggie wrap for lunch and usually brown rice or chicken for dinner.
Baer said she thought she ate better since she moved to college than before she left.
“I feel healthier with the way I’m eating now because I’m in charge of what I’m eating,” she said. “I’m paying for my own food. It’s not food I can eat whenever I want.”
— — Edited by Samantha Foster
Mustaches promote milk-drinking
Student Health Services offered free milk and milk mustaches to students Tuesday ...
Better Options for Bad Situations: Vitamins
If you're going to do it, be smart.
Got milk?
The Milk Mustache Campaign hopes to increase calcium awareness in students’ diets.
Crash diets can prove to be unhealthy
Homemade cleansers and crash diets aren't a substitute for sensible eating and ...
Milking it on campus
Students get free gulps to promote healthy bones.
Blog: Staying Immune
Fighting the common cold.
Foods to help you lose that butt ...
Eating healthy during school doesn’t require as much time or money as ...
Campus calories no longer a mystery
KU Dining Services offers NetNutrition, a nutrition calendar, online.
McCoy: The reason fad diets fade
Popular weight loss plans don't always stand for effectiveness.
Excessive meat consumption could pose health risk
Dieticians say students should balance diets and avoid high-fat red meats.
Staying healthy with healthy eating
Vegetarians and vegans take special steps to get their nutrients
Suddenly salad
Rediscover the health benefits of salad and find some varieties you may ...
Good for you, bad for you: Whole ...
Sometimes it's hard to tell.
Udder confusion
Students turn to vegetarianism
Young people are increasingly deciding to not eat meat, many of them ...
Gluten-free, way to be
Gluten intolerance can be life-changing but should not go undiagnosed.
McConnell: Consuming weapons of mass construction
Holtzen: Antioxidants not an aging cure-all
Antioxidants may be helpful, but are not the source of immortality.
Juice up your diet
Avoiding the ‘freshman 15’
University dining halls work toward healthier diets for freshmen and other students.
Fiber an essential part of your diet
Eating enough fiber is an important part of your diet but some ...
Trans fat statistics not available for Dining ...
Alcohol, food trade-off leads to danger
Drunkorexia, or drinking instead of eating, is a harmful trend among college-aged ...
Walk like a nutritionist
Heed healthy microwave meals
Manual
Step up your smoothie
Benefit from crafting your own blended beverages.
Organic Foods: The meaning behind the label
The meaning behind the label.
Soy: superfood or super health risk?
Could the vitamin-packed, once-touted bean actually be hurting your health?
KU panel discusses your brain, on food
Studies at KU Life Span Institute look to answer questions about the ...
Late-night meals lead to weight gain
Hectic schedules often lead college students to scramble to find time for ...
Former student spent month purchasing local produce
Living life as a locavore meant only buying food within a 100-mile ...
The consequences of protecting your skin
Overusing some products can create unintended outcomes.
New Better Bites campaign caters to federal ...
McCoy: College students can learn to eat ...
When grocery shopping, start with fresh foods and be wary of misleading ...
Orthorexia: When good diets go bad
Healthy eating can become an unhealthy obsession
Good for you, Bad for you
Mixing multivitamins and medicine
Gross: Vegetarian diets don't limit athletic excellence
Some world-class athletes succeed with vegetarian diets.
Losing weight, losing control
Among the millions who struggle with eating disorders, the majority suffer from ...
Portions can reduce holiday weight gain
Instead of binge eating on Thanksgiving, divided portions can lead to less ...
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID