Diet and nutrition of undergraduate students

This review measures the effects of nutrition choices of undergraduate students and proposes the necessary improvements to be made. Globally, poor nutrition and dietary habits are named as topmost factors for wellbeing and health. According to Abraham, Noriega & Shin (2018), poor nutrition affects students’ academic success and health. Some students prepare their own meals whereas others depend on campus cafeterias and other food outlets for their food. The issue of diet and nutrition in university students needs to be clearly examined since the effects of unhealthy diet and poor nutrition has a lot of negative effects. It seems that most of them have a problem in their choice of food to maintain a healthy lifestyle while in university due to their socio-economic statuses (Velazquez, Black & Potvin Kent, 2017).

This is what makes most of them choose poor nutrition leading to health problems such as weight gain. To make the matter worse, most of them forget or do away with physical exercise as they engage in poor nutrition and diet. It is evident that there is no readily available accurate information to university students regarding the importance of healthy diet and nutrition. Young people need to be educated on attaining skills and knowledge they require to make better food choices and acquire a healthy lifestyle. One of the environmental reasons for university students failing to observe healthy eating lifestyle is time constraint (Deliens et al. Most of them do not have adequate time to balance between the number of activities they are expected to do and observing a healthy diet and nutrition.

When in university, it is very difficult to cook meals on time because of studies and social time. They prefer spending time on other activities than on cooking. Many students will opt for fast foods in order to rush for another class, watching television or meet a group of friends. Many of them spend most of their nights in a club partying and drinking alcohol. It always seems funny to them but it has numerous effects. Too much drinking of beer leads to loss of appetite, fatigue, nausea, dehydration, dizziness and other life-threatening conditions such as depression and alcohol poisoning. Furthermore, undergraduate students consume unhealthy nutrition due to peer pressure (Kabir, Miah & Islam, 2018). There is no way that a student can eat salad when their friends eat coffee cakes and fries.

Most students want to spend less while in university. Thus, they decide to spend the few coins they have on unhealthy foods. Cafeterias contribute to students’ food choice since they cook or prepare healthy ingredients in an unhealthy way ion order to save costs. Lack of adequate knowledge on nutrition also contributes to poor dietary habits among undergraduate students (Kabir, Miah & Islam, 2018). Many students do not understand matters concerning healthy food nutrition. Effects of poor diet Poor diet and unhealthy eating can affect students physical, health, academic and mental wellbeing. On health problems, poor eating lifestyle leads to numerous health related diseases. Many university students are faced with the problem of eating unhealthy foods. They need to understand that poor nutrition leads to diseases such as obesity.

Obesity is a worldwide health problem as WHO had included it on the list (Abdel-Megeid, Abdelkarem & El-Fetouh, 2011). Most university students have a high level of education but engage in poor nutritional habits. They tend to eat unhealthy diets on a regular basis. Consequently, poor nutrition causes fatigue and weakness among students. This is whereby the body lacks enough food intake to carry out its various functions. The absence of important nutrients in a human’s body can lead to deteriorating conditions. Symptoms of depression in undergraduate students are also associated with poor dietary habits. It is also reported that people with serious mental health issues have a premature mortality than the overall population. Therefore, students need to eat healthy foods to avoid depression and other mental health issues.

Some healthy nutrients that are linked with emotional wellbeing include folic acid, tryptophan, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins and vitamin D. Whole grains, fish, vegetables, fruits and beans are among foods that are rich in these nutrients (Velazquez, Black & Potvin Kent, 2017). Some research indicate that most university students do not know about energy expenditure and metabolism. They also show shallow baseline knowledge of food labels, nutrients and food guide pyramid groups. However, female students seem to be more conscious than male students concerning the types of food and drinks they consume due to the fear of gaining weight. The issue of nutrition is actually a major health concern in university male students since most females adopt weight control strategies (Klassen et al.

Although the female students do not have proper knowledge on dieting and sometimes engage in intense dieting that becomes destructive. Since the food companies cannot decide the types of foods students consume, they have both healthy food products and junk ones. For example, Nestle Company has Greek yogurts, which is healthy and candies, cereals, yogurts and chocolate milk which are unhealthy. However, the sales of soft drinks and fast foods go higher each year despite contributing to weight gain among people. In addition, some food companies have gone a notch higher to promote healthy foods. However, such adverts only increase the urge of students to purchase more fast foods than the healthier ones due to the logos and pictures that are used.

Sometimes, there are sales promotion like coupons and discount that work effectively in targeting undergraduate students. Apart from sales promotion in supermarkets, food companies use the power of social media to advertise fast foods. It is reported that many students change their eating habits after frequently being exposed to food adverts on social networking sites. How to improve dietary habits Healthy eating is important to each individual. University students need to understand the benefits of eating healthy foods and drinks. According to Roberto & Gorski (2015), this will be in form of restriction whereby the government can endorse policies to restrict such drinks to be sold to university students. This can be effective since avoiding sugary drinks will increase their appetite for healthy foods.

Sugary, salty or fatty foods should only be consumed in small amounts and only occasionally. In addition, university students can improve their dietary habits by switching over to nutritious food that tastes and looks good. Healthy foods do not have to be tasteless and boring. Apart from prices, the cafeterias should make it possible for students to see the number of calories found in all food items they sell. Every menu needs to have the number of calories it contains displayed in big fonts. Also, all on-campus vending machines need to replace their products with healthy ones. Students will be obliged to pick healthy products The government and non-governmental organizations also need to be strict on emphasizing the regulations put forth concerning unhealthy food marketing (Velazquez, Black & Potvin Kent, 2017).

It is evident that many undergraduate students consume unhealthy foods because they are exposed to both direct and indirect advertising. Retrieved from https://pdfs. semanticscholar. org/6e60/def4634da439e9e80dcaf352137016cf6a95. pdf Abraham, S. , Noriega, B. Food companies marketing 'unhealthy' foods to children, says study. Retrieved from https://www. theguardian. com/world/2014/aug/07/food-companies-health-too-low-child-marketing-study Deliens, T. , Clarys, P. uconn. edu/2017/06/food-advertising-kids-still-promotes-unhealthy-foods/# Kabir, A. , Miah, S. , & Islam, A. Factors influencing eating behavior and dietary intake among resident students in a public university in Bangladesh: A qualitative study.  K. , & Khan, M. Nutritional complications and its effects on human health.  Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, 1(1), 17-20. Retrieved from http://www. Social media use for nutrition outcomes in young adults: a mixed-methods systematic review.