Cutting the Calories of College Life
HEA 285
Cutting the Calories of College Life
November 20, 2012
Introduction It’s often said that starting college is like beginning a brand new chapter of life. Making new friends, studying harder courses and living 200 miles away from home. While all that may seem difficult enough, those are just the obvious examples. What about the change in eating habits, the stress that leads to over eating, and the lack of time to make healthy eating habits? These changes that occur in the first year of college are often referred to as “The Freshman 15”, or the easily gained (not so easy dropped) 15 pounds of weight gain that happens almost instantly in your early college life. The Freshman 15 problem ties distinctly into the seven dimensions of health. Social wellness is the relationships between friends and family, when you move away to college you often stray from the eating habits of your old relationships and new ones are often developed when you begin to make new relationships. Emotional wellness involves being well with your emotions; the homesickness and stress of college often lead to unhealthy changes in eating habits. Spiritual wellness includes a persons values and morals, even if you were a healthy eater back home, college can alter your ability to be able to make those healthier decisions. Environmental wellness is the quality of your environment, while nice, clean bottles of water was always stocked in your refrigerator at home; it may be too expensive or hard to come by when adjusting to dorm life. Occupational wellness involves getting fulfillment from current jobs while still having time for ourselves. With a full-time college career and a part-time job its hard to have time to sit down and have a healthy dinner, the drive thru Steak ‘N Shake down the road would be much less time consuming. Intellectual wellness can be referred to being open minded to new ideas and experiences, which can lead college students to new experiences that also add
Cutting the Calories of College Life
November 20, 2012
Introduction It’s often said that starting college is like beginning a brand new chapter of life. Making new friends, studying harder courses and living 200 miles away from home. While all that may seem difficult enough, those are just the obvious examples. What about the change in eating habits, the stress that leads to over eating, and the lack of time to make healthy eating habits? These changes that occur in the first year of college are often referred to as “The Freshman 15”, or the easily gained (not so easy dropped) 15 pounds of weight gain that happens almost instantly in your early college life. The Freshman 15 problem ties distinctly into the seven dimensions of health. Social wellness is the relationships between friends and family, when you move away to college you often stray from the eating habits of your old relationships and new ones are often developed when you begin to make new relationships. Emotional wellness involves being well with your emotions; the homesickness and stress of college often lead to unhealthy changes in eating habits. Spiritual wellness includes a persons values and morals, even if you were a healthy eater back home, college can alter your ability to be able to make those healthier decisions. Environmental wellness is the quality of your environment, while nice, clean bottles of water was always stocked in your refrigerator at home; it may be too expensive or hard to come by when adjusting to dorm life. Occupational wellness involves getting fulfillment from current jobs while still having time for ourselves. With a full-time college career and a part-time job its hard to have time to sit down and have a healthy dinner, the drive thru Steak ‘N Shake down the road would be much less time consuming. Intellectual wellness can be referred to being open minded to new ideas and experiences, which can lead college students to new experiences that also add
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