Students wandering near the Brickyard this week will likely encounter a red tent filled with students discussing the one thing that unites almost all of them: food.
To raise awareness for National Nutrition Month, Nutrition Club has set up shop in the Brickyard all week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The club will discuss ways for students to foster a healthy relationship with food on campus.
While the event is to celebrate National Nutrition Month, freshman nutrition science major Jordan Todd said the club hopes to inspire healthy eating habits that will persist far beyond the month of March.
“Each day focuses on a healthy alternative around the typical ‘norm’ of college eating, exercising and unhealthy habits,” Todd said. “Through this, we are hoping to create awareness about nutrition—not just for the month of March, but for everyday life.”
According to Kelsey Wilson, junior in nutrition science and the on-campus outreach committee chair for Nutrition Club, the week long event will be informative and entertaining.
“We will have flyers and recipe books to hand out. Kristine Clark, registered dietitian for the Physical Education Department, will also be in the Brickyard to answer students’ questions about nutrition and fitness,” Wilson said.
Wilson promised that students who stopped by the tent would get information on healthy eating habits – and food.
“If students stop by the tent they will also have a chance to sample yummy snacks, enter a raffle for gift cards to Harris Teeter and Local restaurants, win one-time passes to fitness classes at the Carmichael Recreation Center, water bottles, Naked Juice, pedometers, etc.,” Wilson said.
The events for the remainder of the week will focus on how to pick healthy dining options on campus and create a diet full of the right nutrients, according to Wilson.
“Thursday’s event is called ‘Eating Well on Campus.’ The purpose of this project is to show students how to eat better and healthier on campus when using a meal plan or board bucks for main courses and snacks. We will have fun games this day that will help students navigate through the dining hall,” Wilson said.
Friday’s event is centered on “Getting to Know MyPyramid.” The emphasis in this event will be on eating with color in order to get the proper nutrients, according to Wilson. “We will have many snacks this day including fruit kabobs, hummus and veggies, and trail mix,” she said.
For sophomore nutrition science major Shelby Dabbs, both topics are especially important for college students due to their living conditions.
“I think one of the main nutrition issues students face deals with dorm living. It is really hard to cook your own food, so they rely on packaged foods a lot,” Dabbs said. “We want to get students away from eating this kind of food, as well as unhealthy foods like hamburgers and French fries that are always at the dining halls. Instead, we want them eat more green food, and add a lot more color to their diets.”
According to Todd, students are constantly bombarded with food, so it is important for students to know how to narrow down the choices.
“As college students, food is always available to us. At a cafeteria, there are a lot of diverse options, but they are always going to be ‘all you can eat,'” Todd said. “I think is definitely something that can often lead to weight gain and the adaptation of unhealthy habits.”
Todd said one way to decrease the seemingly infinite number of dining options is to stick to the healthy basics.
“The best solutions to these problems of overloading on the wrong foods would be to try to eat as many veggies and fruits as possible,” Todd said. “Fill your plates with as much color as possible.”
However, while Todd said fruits and vegetables are important parts of a balanced diet, everyone should allow themselves some wiggle room to eat at least some of their favorite foods.
“Eat what you love, but do it in moderation,” Todd said. “If you like ice cream, don’t deprive yourself of it. Just eat it sporadically.”
If students have a hard time determining which foods are healthy or otherwise, Anissa Smalls, Nutrition Club member and senior in business administration, said they should take advantage of the support system available at the University.
“I think a lot of students have problems with portions, answering the question ‘How much is too much?'” Smalls said. “I think any student who is facing these problems should go online to the University Dining website, which provides all of the nutritional information, which not all campuses do. And it wouldn’t hurt to visit the [student] health center to talk to a dietician.”
Todd said although the University certainly has room for improvement, it is headed in the right direction.
“I do believe we are on our way to becoming a healthier university,” Todd said. “For example, the new Atrium offers a lot of healthy options such as the wrap bar, and Carmichael Recreational Center is great at promoting exercise and keeping a healthy heart.”
The more people that visit the red tent this week, the better chance the nutrition message will reach the masses of students, Todd said.
“I think if more and more people show up and spread awareness of Nutrition Month, it will trigger people to jumpstart their decisions to choose to healthy options rather than pizza and fries,” Todd said.