Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

National Nutrition Month encourages students to eat healthy
By Alicia David
Daily Titan (Cal State-Fullerton)
03/14/2006

(U-WIRE) FULLERTON, Calif. — Since March is National Nutrition Month, it's a good time to ditch the fast food and choose a leafy green salad over a plateful of greasy french fries instead.

It seems that fast food has become as much of a necessity to college students as textbooks or an iPod, but this poor eating habit will do more harm than good.

"Most of a college student's budget goes to food that has no nutritious value because it's cheaper," said Eric Sternlicht of Simply Fit Nutrition and Exercise Consulting in Orange.

Though the convenience of the drive-through window is tempting to most, it may eventually lead to unnecessary and weight gain.

"First-year students gain weight typically because they snack more," Sternlicht said. "They tend to eat more socially for example, while they are talking or studying and aren't paying attention to what they are eating."

It's easy for students to get caught up in eating patterns that can be far from nutritional, however, it's not impossible for students to change those patterns and get on a more nutritious track.

Dr. J. Gregory Laven of Placentia provides several easy tips to follow for a healthier lifestyle.

"Students need proper rest of at least six to eight hours a night to replenish," Laven said.

"They also need to limit processed foods, cut out sugar, limit pizza and eat more foods that are alive such as fruits, veggies and whole grains."

It might make things easier to start off by taking baby steps. Slowly switch a can of soda for a bottle of water or give up a bag of chips for a bag of carrots instead.

The most important advice that Laven had to offer was to drink more water.

"Drink half an ounce of water per pound of body weight," Laven said.

This might sound like a lot now, but it will become easier to do with practice.

Although National Nutrition month may not get as much notoriety as it should, it's still important to become as educated as possible on the subject.

"To be honest with you, I didn't even know there was such thing as a National Nutrition Month," said Jana Castro, a senior liberal studies major.

Several Cal State Fullerton students had never heard of the monthlong observance, however it's not at all impossible to find out about these kinds of monthly events.

"We are in a computer age," Laven said. "Get online and look up info."

Thanks to the Internet, it has become extremely easy for students to learn more about everything going on in today's world.

If students start to recognize unhealthy habits now and slowly start to change them, it will lead to a much healthier future for them.

"Everything in your body happens for a reason, so remember to always listen to your body," Laven said. "Don't ignore the various signs because it never goes away and the body never forgets."

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