By HELENA HAR
Full-course meals that mom used to cook included lots of fruits and vegetables and two or three servings of milk per day. Now students are so busy that they are lucky to get one meal a day from Taco Bell.
Eating a healthy, well-balanced meal is not a priority for most students. Between having a part-time job and getting good grades with a full-time schedule, it is hard to make sure they are eating properly.
“I am aware of how to eat correctly, but I do not find enough time in the day to eat regular meals,” said Katie Bright, a senior from Aiken, S.C.,
majoring in English.
The dietary guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have not changed since 1980. The message remains the same: Eat a variety of foods, with lots of grains, vegetables and fruits.
Choosing a diet low in fat and moderate in salt and sugar is not easy for all students to do.
Students’ actual diets make a top-heavy pyramid, according to a study recently released by the Food and Drug Administration.
The Food Pyramid recommendations are a daily consumption of 6-11 servings of bread; 3-5 servings of vegetables; 2-4 servings of fruits; 2-3 servings of milk; and 2-3 servings of meat.
Actual diets fall short of these recommendations, where the average is two servings of vegetables and one serving of fruit per day. The milk group comes in with a low 1.3 servings, said Dr. Lora Beth Brown, assistant professor in the Food Science and Nutrition Department.
Brown said students are getting enough of one food group — the fat, oils and sweets group.
Brown said she knows that students have many constraints to eating healthily.
“Too many students are eating haphazardly with odd combinations of what is actually in the kitchen and how quick it is to cook,” she said.
One suggestion for students who need quick, cheap and nutritious meals is to eat more fruits and vegetables. Take an apple or an orange with you to school for a snack.
Add frozen vegetables to Ramen noodles or cook some hamburger meat and put it in a soup.
Quick and inexpensive meals include baked potatoes and bean dishes. Be sure to add vegetables to top off the potato and add to the dish.
“I try to make a conscious effort every day to eat correctly,” said Andrew Budd, a junior from Chatham, N.J., majoring in family science. “I try to make the time I need to cook good meals.”
Budd said that cooking enough food for leftovers really helps save time for him.
“When I don’t have time to cook, I can just pull something out of the refrigerator and heat it up,” he said.
Other helpful reminders are to prepare a lunch the night before and eat during class or a short break at school.
Pay attention to the labels at the grocery store. They have made them user-friendly so everyone can understand what they say.
Make the Food Guide Pyramid your nutrition friend. It is on many labels and it can help you get the proper number of nutrients for the day.
