Obesity on Campus
By
In 2007 the University of Minnesota Boynton Health Service issued a report stating that 38.4 percent of Minnesota college students are overweight or obese; now schools are trying to find new ways to combat the problem.
Both the University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota are in the process of developing new ways to educate students on obesity. The goal is to teach students health habits that will carry into their post-collegiate lives.
“Now is the time to intervene,” said Christine Twait, a nutritionist at Boynton Health Service. Twait said eating habits that students develop carry on into their “cubicle lives.” She said one of the reasons adult obesity is on the rise is because of the exercise and eating habits people develop in college.
St. Thomas student Mike Huhn displays the laziness that can lead to obesity in college.
Both colleges provide dietitians to meet with students to develop personal health programs. Birdie Cunningham, a health educator at the University of St. Thomas, said that the school is building a nutrition web site that will be up soon. The school also brings in speakers and provides brochures and information for students.
At Boynton Health Service, Twait is responsible for finding ways to educate students on a problem she does not think is taken seriously enough. “The University in general is not doing a lot,” said Twait. “It falls on me and I can’t solve the obesity problem of 55,000 people.”
One reason Twait thinks obesity is not taken as seriously as it should be is because of eating disorders. Twait said that eating disorders get more coverage because they seem worse even though they affect a smaller number of people. About 5 percent of college students suffer from eating disorders.
Dr. Daniel Carey of the Health and Human Performance department at St. Thomas thinks eating disorders are a bigger problem than obesity. “I think there is great pressure on our students to look good, and part of that is maintaining a normal weight,” said Carey. “I believe this campus is more likely to have a higher incidence of eating disorders because of this desire to look good.”
Twait said the desire to look good could lead to obesity problems. Once students become overweight it can be difficult to exercise in public because they can become self-conscious about how they look. Twait recently developed a group exercise program to counter the problem. “It’s important for students to know they don’t need to be alone.”
While each school is fighting obesity in its own ways, each has limitations. The data shows that obesity is a problem among both adults and college students. “It is a problem, and it is a problem that can’t be solved alone,” said Twait.