JO304 Midterm Story--UPDATED

College Students Are Seemingly Healthier Today, but It Isn’t About What They Are Cutting Out

Pizza, ramen, fries, bread, and Easy Mac galore—these are just some of the foods that have been pinned to college students in the past. But today, college students’ food choices are starting to look different.

According to a 2017 study from Statista spanning 31,463 students, 38% of college students felt that there were in very good health, and 34.3% said that they were in good health

Junk food is losing its appeal to college students as they develop healthier attitudes about health, exercise and diet.The cause of this change in students’ approach to health isn’t about what they aren’t eating, but instead, their attitude, according to nutritionist Rachel Paul.

Rachel Paul, a registered dietician known as The College Nutritionist, posts daily meal plans and tips on her Instagram account of 242,000 followers. She sees a change in how today’s college students think about food.

“Something that does seem to be different from previous generations or even from those who were in college not that long ago, like myself, is the switch from desiring to lose weight to wanting to be in optimal health,” she says. “This is a positive change, focusing on the wellness of the whole person rather than the number on the scale.”

Paul isn’t the only one to see the awareness that students bring to their meals. Madison Dall, the campus representative for Philadelphia-based restaurant chain Honeygrow, says that students are mindful about what they are eating because of the experience.

The company’s latest mission, ‘nourishing creativity’, intends to show that healthy eating is about the experience itself. Honeygrow uses local ingredients and large touch screens, to get students to create their own meals digitally.

In her personal life, Dall expresses that there are many things that she doesn’t eat, but her friends do.

“Today, so many students have complicated diets. Boston area students are very health conscious. In Philadelphia (where Honeygrow is based), because it is just a really different market of students there, there’s a lot more options for unhealthy fast food,” she says.

Honeygrow isn’t the the only fast-casual restaurant that in Boston. In June, vegetarian restaurant Life Alive opened a location on Boston University’s campus,

Manager Max Pelham, at the Commonwealth Avenue’s Life Alive location, says he isn’t surprised by this generation’s approach to health and Life Alive’s success.

“Young people have always been as the generation to push for healthier and more nutritive food options and the BU students have been clearly voting for their food options with their dollar,” he says.

Life Alive plans to open its fifth Massachusetts location in Back Bay of spring 2019 adding to the plethora fast-casual restaurants in Boston like Dig Inn, By Chloe, and Jugo’s.

“We’re in a really exciting time,” says Paul. “That doesn’t mean that tempting, less healthy foods are too easy to find but, from my observations, students are requesting healthier options at the cafeterias, and purchasing healthier options for their dorm rooms.”

Ashley Justiniano, has been running her food Instagram account Carrbe Diem from her dorm room for almost a year.

After making the transition from kitchen table to college dorm room, Justiniano was having trouble figuring what to eat and how to eat healthier. Turning to social media for inspiration, the Boston University junior began to find, post, and create recipes online. These artful posts have allowed her to find a student food community online; But in spending time on social media platforms, she too has noticed a difference in how students relate to their food.

“I still have friends who don't care and eat everything,” she says. “With that being said, the growing percentage of people that do care have shifted their mentality from the idea that it is ‘just a diet’ to a full-fledged, integrated lifestyle.”

Justinano feels that exposure nutritional and environmental research has made students want to make dietary changes for more than just the sake of a fad.

“A lot of my friends are trying to eat less dairy and animal product. This is trending in light of evidence on what eating excessive amount of animal products does to your body,” she says.

On the other hand, Jordan Badger, a dietician for students at Boston University’s Sargent Choice Nutrition Center, feels that it is important to stress that no food is truly a bad food.

“One day, instant ramen can be bad for us and the next day, we can find out that it is the best thing for us to be eating. It’s hard to say to say for students what they should or shouldn’t be eating or what is even considered healthy or not,” she says.

Badger also expressed that social media can influence what students think is healthy, regardless of it being a healthy decision or not.

“At SCNC, we say that all foods can fit into a healthy eating pattern. If you think about the diet set by our government and other governing bodies, including whole grains, choosing lean meats over fatty meats, watching your intake of saturated fats, those are types of categories we talk to students about how to move their diet to be healthier,” she says

Sargent Choice Nutrition Center promotes to BU students that even if a dish has components that aren’t the best for the body, students can still consume them in moderation.

Although Justiniano expressed that many of her friends were working to cut out animal products, 38% in a survey of 58 Boston University students expressed that they consistently consumed dairy once a day.

In their responses, the consensus among BU students were that foods containing the latest ‘controversial’ ingredients like dairy and gluten were enjoyable to them. But, students reflected in their answers that it was important to maintain some sort of dietary balance and maintain a consciousness of what they were choosing to eat and when. Many students responded that they didn’t eat a particular food simply because they don’t like it.

In Rachel Paul’s work as a dietician, she has witnessed the very pattern reflected in BU students’ survey responses. “I do think we’re getting away from ‘fat free’ and more ‘diet’ type foods, and focusing on whole food ingredients,” she says. “Nourishing our bodies this way is such a positive shift in our culture,”.