Unhealthy Eating Trends

College students show trend of unhealthy eating habits

It’s a Friday night and you’re looking to eat something delicious, probably fried and greasy, and that doesn’t break your bank. It’s a good thing your in Athens because Court Street alone offers about 22 different options. Or maybe you’re a first year going to the dining hall. It’s an all you-can-eat free for all of fried foods, array of desserts, and the greasiest stir-fry around.

Students come to college each year and fall easily into the routine of unhealthy eating. The feared freshman 15 proves true for many of them, and others say they constantly feel they have to watch their weight.

“Gaining the freshman 15 was what I feared the most coming into college,” says Chelsea Pogue, a freshman in her second quarter at Ohio University.

The abundant restaurants and easy access to getting food on campuses nation-wide make it easy for students to develop these habits. The majority of restaurants on campuses sell greasy pizza or French fries.

Students have convenient access to all the restaurants. Out of the more than 30 restaurants in Athens, about half of them have delivery options. Restaurants also have very late hours every night. They also all take credit cards which is a convenient payment method for just about anyone.

“We get the most business between the hours of 11PM and 1AM,” says Jordan Stuckey, a worker at D.P. Dough located on Richland Avenue. This late night access is a big contributor to unhealthy eating habits.

Students also utilize the late night hours to get “drunk food.” After a night of drinking, students are able to order any kind of food they want on the weekends until the late hours of the night.

“Almost everyone who orders from us are kids from Ohio University,” said Stuckey of the customers of D.P. Dough.

Dining halls offer a wide variety of foods, but are still unhealthy choices. Students load up on carb-filled meals. Dining halls also offer a buffet-style eating environment and encourage multiple servings of food. They also offer an array of desserts for students to choose from.

“Shively has a lot of food to pick from, which is great for variety, but then I see kids just keep coming up and getting food and they don’t stop,” says Mike Calderone, a worker of Shively dining hall.

Students do buy food often but the foods they are permitted to cook in their rooms are usually frozen or microwavable foods. The student markets of Ohio University offer a wide variety of frozen meals.

Out of 20 Ohio University students interviewed, 13 of them said they ate out more than 7 times per week. Late night food proves to be one of the biggest unhealthy contributors; 15 of the students said the majority of the food they ate from restaurants was after 9PM.

Athens does provide students with a few healthy options. There are a few restaurants that use fresh foods and offer alternate choices to greasy, fried foods. Casa Nueva, of East State Street, offers foods from local farms and organic options. The Athens Farmer’s Market permits local farmers to sell produce and other fresh food options.

“I would shop at the farmer’s market if I had the ability to actually cook the food,” said freshman Kayla Carpenter. “We can only microwavable food in our dorms.”

Along with these common issues, students combine unhealthy eating habits to poor exercise habits. According to the National Youth Risk and Behavior Survey, 20 percent of college students are overweight and 40 percent are attempting to lose weight.

“When I go out on the weekends and end up eating out a lot, I always feel I have to work out a lot to make up for it,” adds Carpenter. Students shouldn’t feel pressured to have to work out or watch what they eat because of their eating habits.

“I think students eat out at these restaurants because they don’t have much money, and these food places are cheap and convenient, so why not eat there,” said Mike Hastings, a junior studying Nutrition.

So what’s the solution to kicking the greasy pizza eating at 11PM routine? It’s probably different for everyone, but you can become consciously aware of the unhealthy habits, and go from there. Some students simply don’t know these are unhealthy habits or don’t know places to go that have healthy options.

Casa Nueva located on Court Street and Della Zona located on West State Street both serve organic and fresh foods from local farms. Salaam, located on Washington Street, also offers locally grown options with a Middle Eastern-Indian taste. The Athens Farmer’s Market is open every Saturday from 10AM to 1PM and located on East State Street.

Next time you go to order some Hungry Howie’s or stop by the Burrito Buggy on Court Street, think about what better options you could be having. Find out what restaurants offer organic, fresh, and healthy foods near you and begin a new habit–a healthy habit.