SCAD Students Eating Habits
Methods of contextual Research
Project Duration: 10 weeks
Team: Zoe Roane-Hopkins, Moran Zhu, & Michelle Estrella Herrera
My role: Data collection, Data Analysis, Design opportunities.
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Overview
Why did we choose this topic?
We all eat food. And with the stress of college life, making healthy choices can be a challenge. So, our team wanted to find opportunities to make it easier for students to eat healthily.
Problem Statement
College students are infamous for their poor eating habits. With a demanding workload, empty pockets, and the freedom to eat whatever they want, healthy food choices are not always at the forefront of decision-making. In a study involving focus groups, students admitted to skipping meals, prioritizing convenience over health, and
binge eating due to stress (Sogari et. al, 2018).
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), both physical and mental factors in college settings could affect students’ eating habits and their health. For example, all-you-can-eat dining facilities and vending machines can lead to overeating or choosing foods loaded with calories, saturated fat, sugar, and salt. Stress from heavy workloads can also cause students to not eat or skip meals. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). In fact, 95.2 percent of college students fail to eat the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables of five or more servings a day (American College Health Association, 2018), and during the first 3 – 4 months of college, students gain an average of 1.5–6.8 lb., with the proportion of overweight or obese students as much as double by the end of the first semester. (Popkin &Neilsen, 2004).
Poor nutrition can impair our daily health and wellbeing, reducing our ability to lead an enjoyable and active life. In the short term, poor nutrition can contribute to stress, tiredness, and our capacity to work. Over time, it can contribute to the risk of developing certain illnesses and other health problems such as:
· type-2 diabetes
· osteoporosis
· some cancers
· depression
· Eating disorders (SA Health, 2019).
· being overweight or obese
· tooth decay
· high blood pressure
· high cholesterol
· heart disease and stroke
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Opportunity Statement
Given the many potential health concerns of poor dieting related to unhealthy food choices, there is an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of how these eating habits surface in SCAD students so we can identify ways of improving health.
