On and Off Campus Student Eating Habits
By: Valerie Blaha and Jackie Magurno
Click the link above to view facts on student eating habits at SUNY Oswego
To gain a better understanding of the types of food choices college students make, SUNY Oswego on and off campus students took a survey regarding their college eating habits.
The survey showed that more than half of students are not satisfied with their eating habits at school.
“As a stressed and busy college student, unfortunately unhealthy comfort food is what we eat after a long day, even though we know we should be eating something healthy like a salad,” said Natalie Mansion, a junior at SUNY Oswego.
Mansion’s comments on her food consumption at school represent a lot of what students have to say about what it’s like to balance schoolwork, friends, sleep, all while trying to fit a meal in.
According to the survey, which focuses on students living on campus, the top three dining hall meals are popcorn chicken, barbecue wings and the peanut butter and jelly bar.
On the nutrition labels provided by SUNY Oswego, it shows that five barbecue wings contain 72 grams of carbs and over 60 grams of sugar. However, students should actually be eating less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per meal, according to the Food and Drug Administration’s standard.
Though these favorites do not pertain to the recommended daily intake, they are still what the students want and request to be served.
“The dining hall serves healthy options sometimes, like salmon and steamed vegetables,” Mansion said, “but that’s just not what most students want to eat after a long and stressful day.”
“Unfortunately the comfort food is what we normally go for, even though we know we should be at the salad bar,” Mansion continued. “Whenever I’m having a long day I always check the dining hall menu in hopes popcorn chicken will be for late night.”
The dining hall is very convenient for students living on campus to grab a bite to eat while they’re on the go, but sometimes this convenience leads to overeating or consumption of unhealthy options.
Jenny Carr, a sophomore living in Onondaga Hall usually only goes to breakfast when they are serving her favorite meal, which she admits is not the healthiest breakfast choice.
“I usually can’t wake up early enough to make it to breakfast, but me and my suitemates make sure to go when they’re serving pancakes or waffles,” Carr said.
Even though some may think that breakfast at the dining hall is healthy and easier than getting breakfast off campus, evidence proves that it is difficult both ways. Living off campus still negatively affects eating habits just as much as living in the dorms.
“I thought since I was going to be preparing my own meals I would eat healthier, however I’m so busy that I usually just cook pasta every night for dinner,” Allison Keenan, junior at SUNY Oswego, said.
The city of Oswego has three grocery stores that are popular for off-campus students to shop at, Price Chopper, Wal-Mart, and Paul’s Big M. The survey showed that 48 percent of SUNY Oswego students get their groceries from Wal-Mart.
“Wal-Mart is the most convenient place to go because they have everything and their prices are great,” Greco said. “You can get all the groceries you need for the week and also things like shampoo, conditioner, and make up,” Brian Greco, a junior who lives off campus, said in an interview.
According to data, Walmart and Price Chopper are considered the cheapest places to shop for groceries.
Whether living on or off campus, the college environment appears to have a negative impact on the student eating habits. 34 percent of SUNY Oswego students claimed they wished they ate better than they do.
SUNY Oswego’s dietitian, Kathryn Szklany, works to help college students live a healthy life by advising them on what to eat and how to achieve health related goals.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle at college can be a struggle for some students, but Szklany suggested students stay active, watch portion sizes, limit alcohol intake, don’t skip meals, drink water and low-calorie beverages only, load up on fruits and vegetables, and choose whole grains.
“Plan ahead what you are going to eat, use the mobile dining app if eating at the dining centers. Eat according to the USDA’s MyPlate visual which is a half plate fruits and vegetables,” Skalanzy said.
Keeping a food diary is one way to help watch eating habits while at college. A food diary is a log of what is consume each day. It helps people make changes to their diets and lose weight. It can be used it to improve health by tracking what a person eats and drinks.
“I like to keep a food diary so that I can watch and keep track of what I am eating every day,” said Kevin Joseph, a junior at SUNY Oswego. “I thought by doing this I would make healthier choices since the main idea of a food diary is to reduce or eliminate mindless eating, such as stuffing chips into your mouth while watching television, or to see what foods bother my stomach. But after keeping one I found myself writing down all this pointless junk food I found myself snacking on throughout the day even if I did have a healthy lunch or dinner.”
SUNY Oswego strives to help its students make better eating choices by providing students with a mobile dining app. The app includes nutrition facts such as calories, serving size, sodium and sugar of the items being served in the dining hall each day. There is also information such as vegan options, vegetarian options and heart healthy options.
Many students try to take advantage of all the mobile app has to offer, students like Shannon Bogaski, a senior public justice major, mainly uses the app to check the dining menu.
“I found the SUNY Oswego mobile app to be very helpful when trying to make better food choices,” Bogaski said. “I use the app to check what the dining hall is serving everyday and they also offer nutrition labels so that you can see what is good for you and what isn’t. Since I’m gluten free it’s important for me to see what is in the food I am eating.”
There are options for vegan and gluten free students provided in every dining hall on campus. Some meals in the gluten free pantry include, blueberry muffins, bread, vegan brownies, vegan waffles, and granola bars. Students also have the option to call ahead and order meals such as, vegan penne pasta, cheese pizza, alfredo sauce, macaroni and cheeze and more. (Complete list of items are listed in the infographic).
The SUNY Oswego’s Health Promotion department has done many things to help students live a healthy lifestyle, but there are still some concerns that department members like Sharon Cromie, hope to overcome.
“I am extremely concerned with the rate that obesity has been increasing over the last 10 years,” Cromie said. “College students sit more and aren’t active and their diets are full of fast food. In order to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle, students need to move more and try to watch what they eat. They need to eat more fruits and vegetables, limit the breads and carbohydrates.”
