One of the foremost problems impacting college students throughout the nation is a lack of proper dietary and exercise habits. Only about 7% of college students eat five or more fruits and vegetables a day, while 43.6% of college students exercise on 3 or fewer days of the week (Das and Evans, 2014). These poor habits not only result in short-term health consequences, but also impact students’ health in the long run. Poor eating habits and limited physical activity among adolescents are linked to serious health consequences later in life, such as osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, and hyperlipidemia (Bazzano, 2006). These health issues can be avoided by establishing positive health habits at an early age.
The first major part of the problem …show more content…
College students engage in many sedentary activities, such as studying, watching TV, and using their laptops. This activity would be fine if it was accompanied by regular exercise, but the majority of students do not get the recommended amount of exercise on a weekly basis (Franko et al., 2008). One of the reasons college students don’t exercise regularly is a lack of motivation. Many lack the intrinsic motivation to exercise, while others are unaware of the health benefits. Another important factor is the amount of freedom students find themselves with in college. Students have complete control over what they do with their time, making it easy to become lazy. However, it is essential to establish strong exercise habits in college, so that it becomes routine down the …show more content…
We first observed that athletes generally had stricter, more nutritious diets, most likely due to recommendations given to them by their coaches. However, among non-athletes, over half of the surveyees reported that they felt like they did not have nutritious diets. The results show a shockingly low level of fruit and vegetable intake, as only 3% of responders consume 4-5 servings of fruit per day and 4.5% of responders consume 4-5 servings of vegetables per day. This data exposes the severity of the problem of malnutrition among college students. Fortunately, only 12.8% of surveyees said that would not be more inclined to improve their diet given a nutrition guide. This piece of data suggests that a guide would certainly be useful to a vast majority of students in Oakland
The first major part of the problem …show more content…
College students engage in many sedentary activities, such as studying, watching TV, and using their laptops. This activity would be fine if it was accompanied by regular exercise, but the majority of students do not get the recommended amount of exercise on a weekly basis (Franko et al., 2008). One of the reasons college students don’t exercise regularly is a lack of motivation. Many lack the intrinsic motivation to exercise, while others are unaware of the health benefits. Another important factor is the amount of freedom students find themselves with in college. Students have complete control over what they do with their time, making it easy to become lazy. However, it is essential to establish strong exercise habits in college, so that it becomes routine down the …show more content…
We first observed that athletes generally had stricter, more nutritious diets, most likely due to recommendations given to them by their coaches. However, among non-athletes, over half of the surveyees reported that they felt like they did not have nutritious diets. The results show a shockingly low level of fruit and vegetable intake, as only 3% of responders consume 4-5 servings of fruit per day and 4.5% of responders consume 4-5 servings of vegetables per day. This data exposes the severity of the problem of malnutrition among college students. Fortunately, only 12.8% of surveyees said that would not be more inclined to improve their diet given a nutrition guide. This piece of data suggests that a guide would certainly be useful to a vast majority of students in Oakland