College students find it difficult to eat healthy food especially when one is pressed for time due to hectic study schedules and college activities. | Inquirer.net stock photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — For college students with busy schedules and heavy workloads, there is a tendency for them to set aside their nutritional needs in exchange for the convenience of fast foods and caffeine products.
And most of the time, these individuals skip eating at the right time or engage in stress-eating habits due to lack of time and pressure.
READ: Why eating and living healthy is good for you
College students share challenges
Two college students have shared to CDN Digital the difficulties they have been facing with their health because of their responsibilities as students.
Charen Ngujo Alegres, an incoming fourth-year student, said that she had a difficult time dealing with her health since she was in senior high school due to her demanding schedule.
“Naay times naa gihubak ko tungod wala koy enough sleep and eat kay ako schedule sa una morning man, unya mauli na ko gabii na kay practice og theater play,” she said.
(There were times that I had asthma because I did not have enough sleep and (did not) eat (enough) because my schedule before was in the morning, then I would go home late at night because of the theater play practice.)
READ: How does family affect our relationship with food?
Balance between health, school deadlines, exams
The challenge, for Alegres, was in balancing a healthy lifestyle while worrying about deadlines and exams. And even if she never skips meals, she easily loses energy and easily gets sick.
A college student points to too much consumption of coffee as among the factors affecting her health. | Image: grandriver/yIstock.com via AFP Relaxnews
Two habits that she admits affects her health is her constant consumption of coffee to focus better and eating mostly fried foods.
Less time for physical activities
Meanwhile, Nemark Urot, a third year college student, shares that the biggest change that he has experienced with his health, is that he now has less time to engage in physical activities.
Despite eating regularly every day, he said that he wished that he could eat healthier foods and be more active in physical activities so that he could gain more strength.
He said that he would also suffer headaches often due to the stress of school activities.
Health problems adolescents face
Registered nutritionist-dietitians Mariel Migabon (left) and April Rose Jacosalem (right) share to CDN Digital the common problems adolescents face today with regard to maintaining one’s health and the measures to address these problems. | Emmariel Ares
According to registered nutritionist-dietitians, the experiences of these two individuals are just some of the common health problems that adolescents face.
In an interview with CDN Digital, April Rose Jacosalem and Mariel Migabon said that some of the most common problems of adolescents would be: binge eating, restricted eating for weight loss, and excessive consumption of coffee and alcohol.
Losing, gaining weight
Another health problem that they pointed out would be the unhealthy habit of losing or gaining weight.
In the pursuit of the ideal beauty standard commonly seen in social media, many young individuals go to different lengths to achieve the “perfect figure.”
“Since we’re already in the social media age, so different na jud ang definition sa (so the definition is different of) what is beautiful, and most of the young people these days struggle with their body image. This actually leads to increase na (of the) risk of eating disorders actually like binge eating and also restricting themselves,” said Jacosalem.
“Aligning with why they struggle because they always see these images of the perfect body. This is how you should be. This is what we call beautiful in our society.”
She added that there would also be the excessive consumption of alcohol and cravings of fatty, oily, or sugary foods which would affect the health of many students.
There are more women than men who are affected by this problem, especially because many females are usually influenced by social media and magazines.
“Aligning with why they struggle because they always see these images of the perfect body. This is how you should be. This is what we call beautiful in our society,” said Migabon.
This in turn causes young girls to skip meals in order to drop a dress size.
Due to this, a cycle starts where they suffer hunger for the whole day and stress eat at night. After this, most individuals then develop a guilty feeling on why they consume so much food.
And so, it becomes repetitive until the body is having difficulty to keep up with the eating habit.
READ: Gov’t asked to address eating disorders among youth
Excessive consumption of fatty, oily food will affect one’s health. | Inquirer.net stock photo
Danger of some weight loss products
And with the aid of products believed by people to improve weight loss, the routine becomes even more dangerous.
“Some products are actually not approved by the government so it’s very dangerous. Some of the products that they take tend to make their bowel movements even faster or two times faster. So it’s very dangerous since it will cause nutrient-deficiencies,” said Jacosalem.
She further explained that this would cause for the nutrients to be flushed out and go to waste because of the rapid increase in bowel movement.
It is always a must for people to be careful on the products they consume and the fad diets they choose to follow in order to avoid risks to their health.
“When you eat healthy foods, you feel good. And then when you do your exercise, you have your increased motivation. It releases your tension so you can have better self-esteem. So you would say your body image would be better. And then you would say to yourself, ‘ Kaya nako (I can do this). I am confident,’”
Advice from experts
The advice from professionals is to monitor the most basic nutrition concepts of moderation, variety, and balance in diet.
This means to eat moderately, eat a combination of foods that contain the needed nutrients, and follow a diet that is balanced.
“If we want to say that this person is eating healthy, we have to look at the moderation, the variety, and then the balance in the diet of this person. And also the physical activity that this person is doing or is incorporating in his/her lifestyle,” said Migabon.
And when it comes to caffeine products utilized to increase wakefulness and alertness, do not consume more than 400 milligrams of coffee or one to two cups per day.
More tips to improve one’s health
Here are some more tips, especially for college students, to live healthily despite their busy schedules:
1. Don’t skip meals.
2. Drink two to three liters of water a day.
3. Develop a consistent exercise routine.
4. Manage your stress.
5. Sorround yourself with people who will support you.
6. Do what you love.
Eating well and exercising daily heavily affects how one views themselves. And so it is important to develop a lifestyle that satisfies both your well-being and confidence in your body.
“When you eat healthy foods, you feel good. And then when you do your exercise, you have your increased motivation. It releases your tension so you can have better self-esteem. So you would say your body image would be better. And then you would say to yourself, ‘ Kaya nako (I can do this). I am confident,’” said Migabon.
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