Freshman 15
Growing up my parents would always talk about how important it was to learn how to eat healthy and encourage me to try a variety of foods. Once I hit high school my mom always encouraged me to make healthy alternatives and bring my own lunches to school. However, we didn’t always have a microwave available to use so it did become a little challenging. Nonetheless, I never understood how important healthy eating actually was until my friends started going off to college and talking about how hard it was to eat healthy on their own. They thought they would be prepared but the endless amount of cafeteria food got to them and they realized the freshmen 15 is a real thing. “In the last decade, obesity rates increased rapidly among individuals ages 18 to 29, from 7.1% in 1991 to 12.1% in 1999” (Gow). For many young…show more content… College students may be more likely to indulge in large portion sizes and high calorie foods as they are unsupervised. Binge eating is becoming a common occurrence for students, especially after a night out of drinking. Cafeterias are conveniently located so students have food readily available to them and they do not have to go out and search. “College is pretty universally bad for eating habits because there are bad food choice options and cooking takes a lot of time that college students don't always have,” says Lisa, a sophomore at the University of Georgia (Hoxworth)”. Binge eating gives students a way to cope if they are feeling stressed. Many times binge eating happens right when you get to college because you are starting a new chapter in your life. Susan Holmberg, nutrition specialist and behavior therapist, says it’s impossible to quantify binge eating by the amount of food being consumed, because that can differ so much from person to person. “The thing that is the core of binge eating is the feeling of abandon
