Between the late night studying and the midnight fast food runs that go with them, the weekends (and sometimes weeknights) spent at the bars and the dining hall meals with limited choices, it can sometimes be hard for college students to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Take heart: With just a few lifestyle adjustments, college students can drastically improve their health with very little sacrifice.
MAINTAINING A HEALTHY DIET
According to Michele Moelder, nutritionist and owner of Health Beat Natural Foods and Deli, a health food store located in Johnson City, N.Y., college students often choose poor times to eat their meals.
‘They eat very late at night and start to ignore the need for exercise after. I did the same thing,’ Moelder said. ‘I know when I studied I used to munch on things too, but I had to break myself of that habit. I would get up and exercise for 15 minutes to unwind.’
Takeout and fast food have become staples of the college diet and some options are healthier than others.
Moelder said that if students are going to eat out, their best option is Japanese cuisine.
‘You can ask them to grill things rather than fry them in oil,’ she said. ‘Vegetable sushi is also a very good option and a lot of the soups, like miso soup, are actually very healthy.’
MANAGING CALORIES ON A NIGHT OUT
When students head down to the bars on State Street to unwind after a long week of exams and term papers, the number of calories they’ll be consuming is not on their minds.
But there are guidelines students can follow to ensure their beer bellies don’t swell too far.
Brian Wachsman, operations manager at the Mad Moose Saloon, says light beer is very popular among the Downtown crowd.
‘We sell a lot of Michelob Ultras to students,’ he said. ‘They have a lot less calories and taste pretty similar to regular beer.’
According to the U.S. Department of Health, sweeter white wines have more calories than their dry counterparts. Additionally red wine has slightly more calories on average than white.
And while liquor does tend to have fewer calories than beer or wine per serving, students should be aware that what they mix with them will add to the caloric content.
Most of the bars on State Street offer lower-calorie alternatives to mix in with their drinks.
‘Both vodka-Redbull and rum and Cokes are popular,’ said Cathy Devoe, a bartender at The Sports Bar. ‘We offer sugar-free Red Bull and diet Coke as options.’
KNOWING HEALTHY OPTIONS AVAILABLE ON CAMPUS
It can be hard for students living in the dorms to make their way off campus to grocery stores to find healthy foods and even more difficult to prepare their meals.
Still, car-less and kitchen-less students can find healthy options on campus, even in the dining halls.
‘A lot of our menu has been created based on student feedback,’ said Bob Griffin, campus director of Sodexho. ‘Over the years we’ve developed a ‘wellness menu’ with healthier options.’
According to Griffin, the menu originated five years ago at the College-in-the-Woods dining hall and quickly spread to the rest of the facilities on campus.
While it may sometimes seem to students that the only food available to them in the dining halls is the abundant supply of burgers, fries and other greasy food options, 70 percent of Sodexho’s food offerings meet the criteria to be listed on the wellness menu, Griffin said.
‘Foods on this list have to meet criteria based on the recommendations by the American Heart Association,’ said Amy Enright, a registered dietitian at Sodexho. ‘[Requirements] are mainly based off of the fat content of the items.’
In order to be included on the list, items must contain three grams of fat or less, must have less than one gram of saturated fat, must contain low amounts of sodium and cholesterol, and must contain 10 percent or more of the daily value of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein or dietary fiber.
Whether it’s alcohol or snacks that are making it difficult to stay healthy in college, paying attention to details might make the process that much easier.