Katelin Schumacher, Spencer Hanson and Colton Armstrong
The facts are true, students are just not getting the right nutrients in college. As there are many factors that contribute into this issue, some of them are highly preventable. Food insecurity on college campuses has grown into a huge problem. Many students are having to choose whether they want to buy food, or if they need to buy non-food necessities such as textbooks, rent, along with many others. According to researchers at Southern Illinois University, 35% of students at four-year universities reported low or very low food security. While another 23% stated they had marginal food insecurity. Only 45% of students on campus reported being food secure. Statistics also show that at community colleges, 67% of students report having marginal food security, and 13% of students reported that they do not receive the proper nutrition.
Some of the students here at DMACC skip meals. I know some of my teammates do not eat breakfast and that is the most important meal of the day. Personally, every morning if I wake up in time, I make eggs. However, if I don’t wake up early enough and I have to rush, I just make a smoothie. A lot of my teammates also don’t like to cook and a lot of them will just go out to eat and choose bad eating choices such as unhealthy food. A lot of these main choices are because of low their short amount of income, not being able to buy the correct types of food.
A lot of my teammates are not consuming the proper healthy foods that athletes need. They are lacking the correct amount of nutrients needed to be a top tier athlete. Getting the proper amount of nutrients is imperative in order for our bodies to grow healthier and stronger. Scholarships for baseball athletes are not very high in covering the whole cost of the college, they can only give out three fourths of a scholarship. Athletes have to come up with that other
twenty-five percent to buy groceries and gas other materials, sometimes if they are running low on their money they cut corners and not buy completely healthy foods.
According to a ‘Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior,’ over half of college students had high levels of “food insecurity,” meaning they had limited or uncertain availability to healthy foods due to high costs, leading to a higher risk of malnutrition. Money is definitely a issue for a lot of college students and athletes. If there’s no meal plan or a cafeteria for them, then it’s pretty hard to try to eat healthy and buy healthy food on their own. Instead of buying the cheap stuff such as 98 cent quick meals that might not be totally healthy for you.
By bringing the issues involving students health these issues to administrations, the problem involving food can decrease dramatically, and the students that may not be able to eat every meal or even one meal a day will be able to eat and be healthy. Eating healthier will result in the “Freshman 15,” or nowadays “Freshman 40,” going away, along with the ability to feel better about themselves throughout the day. When a person feels better about themselves, they will tend to perform better in academic activities, physical activities and any other activity. Eating healthier also allows the brain to function better and at a higher level, allowing students to be more alert. I urge other people to reach out to the administration and push for a meal plan to be put into place.