by Heather Tyner

Listen to the Story!

When high school seniors sit down to look at college, they have a lot of paperwork to sort through, not to mention Web sites to check out, and tuition prices to evaluate. There are brochures advertising academic programs, calendars of events and photos taken of anything appealing on campus. But amid all this chaos of promotional pamphlets, it's hard to see what's really important...the food.

Though it may not seem like a very important aspect of college life, the food a college offers is the most readily available source of nutrition for incoming freshmen, who most often have to live on campus. The types of food the college offers and how the students take advantage of those options determine whether or not the student falls prey to the entirely avoidable phenomenon of the “freshman fifeteen”.

According to Wikipedia.org, the “freshmen fifteen” is a popular name for a fifteen-pound weight gain that sometimes occurs during a university student's freshmen year, particularly if they live in residence halls or dorms.

When living on campus, students can, and are sometimes required to buy meal plans that include all you can eat buffets. These types of deals can be hard to resist.

Kelly Bradley, a sophomore at UAA says, "Where you have more dining halls, and you pay, and it's all you can eat, freshman just eat as much as they can because it's cheap. Last year I went to different school where it was like that and so we just paid $8 and it was an all you can eat meal, and I just ate so much food because I thought it was, you know, much cheaper than buying it separately."

Having food so readily available, does take away the stress of having to find your own meals. But it brings about another stress, the stress of having to regulate what you eat. In order to avoid the freshmen fifteen, you have to control the quantity and the quality of the food you consume. This can be very difficult when class schedules determined when you can eat. UAA senior Ben Hussey says cafeteria hours can also make it difficult for students to eat healthy all the time.

"It's pretty difficult to find good food around here, a lot of it's fried, and uh yeah, the schedule for the Cuddy Center here is pretty restrictive of my schedule, so the little bit of healthy food that is here, I'm often times not able to get. And then, the vending machines are often my only option," Hussey said.

UAA's Michael Henry says the fluctuating schedules can be a source of weight gain. "You're never on a set schedule, so you're eating at random times during the day, and umm, I don't know, a lot of people consume more alcohol, which leads to gaining weight," he said.

Though alcohol may be one of the factors leading to the freshmen fifteen, any type of drink that is in high in calories and carbohydrates is likely to have the same effect, especially energy drinks. Eddy Ozomo, a student worker at the UAA information desk, is able to observe students drinking trends.

"What do you think is the highest selling type of food at the info desk?"

"I'd say energy drinks, right now."

"How does that compare to the candy sales and junk food?"

"It trumps most of the candy sales and junk food, but that's mainly because the students are tired. We've tried to sell vegetables, carrot sticks, those kinds of things, it didn't work out because when we actually did offer them they never sold.”

Decisions about what to serve students to eat aren't made without regard to who's eating. UAA Food Service Director Steven Wadsworth says there's a defined process.

"As far as the menu goes, normally what we do is we look at the student population, the demographic. Some campuses will have higher population of vegetarians, vegans, Alaska people like meat and potatoes up here, but we do have a lot of vegetarian options. We feature a vegetarian option everyday, for lunch and dinner, a full salad bar and an Asian station. We try to make sure that we're featuring healthy items in every meal period," he said.

Students also have the option of suggesting foods Wadsworth said. "Oh of course, we have comment cards that we respond to everyday. We also have food service advisory committee that meets the first Tuesday and Wednesday of each month and it's an open forum where students are allowed to come in and comment. And just the day to day interaction, my staff is very open to meeting the needs of the students, this is really their dining room. They live here and we want to make sure we're meeting the needs of all students."

However, while the options are available, it's up to the student to make the decision to eat healthy. To avoid the freshmen fifteen, students have to make conscious decisions about what they eat. UAA student Carla Donovan tries to make healthy eating a priority, but realizes there are times when the options are limited.

"A lot of the foods here are greasy and they're not the most healthy foods for you, so it's hard—especially if it's your first time away from home, because it's hard to moderate what you're eating and you're used to being told what to eat most of the time, and it's harder," Donovan said.

Kelly Bradley also has trouble maintaining healthy eating habits.

"I tried to, but my diet kind of went by the wayside when school started, I just got too busy to bother with cooking all the time, but I try most of the time," she said.

Exercise is another factor leading to the freshmen fifteen, one that often gets pushed aside as students get busier. According to Mayo Clinic Guide to Self-Care, one of the reasons people put on weight is a decrease in activity. If incoming freshmen burn fewer calories on a daily basis, they put on weight, whether or not they are eating more. Add the anxiety of being in a new situation, the stress of homework and late nights, and college freshmen have it hard put to manage both their food intake and their physical activity.

The first step to overcoming the freshmen fifteen, is being aware of it. Students who realize the obstacles and are conscious of their habits are more able to change them, and make a difference in their daily routine. The healthy options are out there and it's up to the students to make the right decisions. Steven Wadsworth had some good advice for the incoming freshmen, saying that they should "really watch what they eat and set up a diet, or a meal program for themselves and eat and stick to it."

With the right attitude about food and exercise, incoming students can enjoy college without the added pounds. It's all about the choices.