About Me

My name is Seth Barrasso, I am currently studying nutrition and dietetics at the University of Rhode Island. I am also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. I have also done countless research on my own time in the last 3 years studying nutrition and fitness to gain more knowledge for myself. I wanted to learn and I was eager to learn to help better myself and eventually others as well. I have also done countless research on peer reviewed articles to gain a better understanding of why these problems occur.

The Problem Explained

I have personally heard many people talking about the “freshman 15” before I started going to college. The “freshman 15” is a slogan coined because of the new adjustment of college and dorm life causing people to gain weight. Before starting my first year here at the University of Rhode Island, I fully believed that this phenomenon was correct. A lot of people have bad habits, eating wise as well as nutrition wise even at home. My first couple weeks on campus I noticed why this occurs. I noticed how easy it was to obtain unhealthy food choices and how people can be very lazy. Here at the University of Rhode Island, with a meal plan you get unlimited swipes during a day and you can eat as much as you want per swipe. This allows students to overeat so easily to the point of gaining weight. Not only can students eat as much as they want, most of the food available is not healthy. I did field research at the Emporium here at the University of Rhode Island. The Emporium is a collection of places to eat on campus. Although not included in the meal plan, students can still use either their own money or money from their Ram Account to purchase these foods. After a couple days of observing students at the Emporium I noticed that almost all of the food available is unhealthy and high in calories. Not only are these foods unhealthy and high in calories but they are also available for delivery to dorms late at night. Most of these food places are open very late and also deliver to dorms, giving students easy access to these foods without having to walk and exercise to get them. Some examples of the restaurants in the Emporium are, Insomnia Cookies which sells many different kinds of sugary cookies and ice cream, I-Zone and the Rhode House which both sell calzones and Albies which sells assorted food. These are just some examples of the food available in the Emporium however these seem to be the most popular amongst students. Students also tend to get these foods from the Emporium on weekends and at night, usually a day without exercise followed by these unhealthy, high calorie foods.

What Can We Do About On Campus Nutrition?

Clearly most students are not choosing the right food choices living on campus. Whether it is stress, convenience of  unhealthy foods or lack of variety, students are continuously choosing the unhealthy route. I will be partnering with SciStarter which has a survey called Healthy v.s Non-Healthy Foods. This survey will ask the user questions about sex, age, race, behavior and food choices. I would send this survey around to different campuses and have students take the survey. I would then look at the data given through the survey and compare it to the Dietary Guidelines. After receiving this data I will make a conclusion about college nutrition and set up a campaign to help educate students nationally about proper nutrition in college and how to have the body composition they want. Students should be informed that proper nutrition and a caloric deficit, partnered with a proper exercise routine results in a loss of fat free mass index(www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.uri.idm.oclc.org/pubmed/30777142). Another fascinating thing that many students do not know is how a caloric deficit or a caloric surplus can affect metabolism and appetite. If a student were to eat way below there caloric maintenance for a while, their body would think they are starving and slow their metabolism down. This metabolic damage could be the reason some students can still eat not as much as their student counterparts but still gain weight.  Being overweight is not just about the looks, but more importantly your overall health. Students who are overweight early are at much more of a risk for later health complications. Obesity is directly related to increased blood pressure and effects on heart rate. This leaves students vulnerable to cardiovascular disease in the future (www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.uri.idm.oclc.org/pubmed/7766558). Some students may brush these problems off now but in the long run it is worth getting your nutrition in check and getting into good habits now. Students should focus on eating a healthy, diet with variety and try to exercise at least 3-4 times a week. A focus on healthy, whole foods and variety and cutting out added sugars and sugary drinks will help students reach their body composition they want and keep them healthy for the long run.

Works Cited

Donkers, JH, Hopkins, Finlayson, Casanova, Beaulieu, et al. “University Libraries.” Proxy Login – URI Library, 1995, www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.uri.idm.oclc.org/pubmed/7766558.

Hopkins, Finalyson, Blundell, Gibbons, Duarte, Stubbs, et al. “University Libraries.” Proxy Login – URI Library, 2019, www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.uri.idm.oclc.org/pubmed/30777142.

Blundell, Fredrix, Donkers, Westerterp, Boekhoudt, et al. “University Libraries.” Proxy Login – URI Library, Pub Med, 2018, www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.uri.idm.oclc.org/pubmed/21527891.