Abby Grossmeyer

ENGL 111
Dr. Kim Lacey
20 October 2019
Promoting Health for a Better Tomorrow
Health in the United States has not been a major focus of the leaders of our nation in
recent years. With fast food chains expanding their businesses and offering affordable meals, the
temptation to eat the unhealthy food from these convenient places are getting to be too much for
our nation to handle. Specifically, college students are struggling with finding food to eat that
gives them both the variety they want and the nutrition they need. The problem is that there are
few on-campus options for meals that are as healthy as they are enticing. The marketplace at
Doan at Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) has some healthy options, but they have very
little variety from day to day. Students are supposed to eat there every day. However, because of
this lack of variety, students would rather go to other eateries, such as the cardinal café or even
off-campus fast food restaurants. At a time where most students are beginning to make decisions
for the first time in their lives, they are left with unhealthy options because they have valued
variety over health. The solution to this health issue is to provide more nutritious options with
more variety of these foods through altering current dishes and adding more dishes.
Time and time again, college students will be out on weekends running errands or
catching up with their friends, and they will grab a “quick bite” at a Taco Bell or a McDonald’s
because it is what is convenient and appealing to them. Even though it is known that the foods
these chain restaurants provide have little to no sustenance and are not meant to be a daily meal,
college students find themselves eating at fast food restaurants quite frequently because they
don’t want to back to their dorm to eat the same bland meal they’ve been eating for weeks. This
eating out on weekends turns into eating off-campus on weekdays and can even escalate to
students eating fast food every day. The problem is that an average meal at a fast food restaurant
is 800 calories, more than thirty percent of the suggested Calorie intake for young adults (Deirdre
et al., 2014, p. 562). In addition to this, the meals that come from fast food restaurants are not
meant to provide sustenance. The above average Calories in the meal can cause weight gain, lead
to a lowered mental health, and then cause more stress-induced eating. This could be a whole
cyclical conundrum that is avoidable. There is a proven correlation between diet and academic
achievement. According to the National Institutes of Health, the nutrient rich foods, that are
required for developing the brain and keeping it going, also provide it with the energy to function
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properly (Burrows, Whatnall, Patterson, & Hutchesson, 2017, para 4). Therefore, if students
don’t eat enough healthy foods with proper nutrition, they will not function properly in class due
to not having enough energy. Lack of options and variety of food on Saginaw Valley State
University’s campus leads to students seeking off-campus fast food. From there, students will eat
out more frequently, which means they will not get the proper nutrients they need to perform
well in school.
The solution to this problem is not complicated, but it may take some time. The first step
toward getting healthier options and more variety at the SVSU eateries is setting up an
appointment to talk with the Dining Services Director, Matt Wilton, and potentially the
Marketplace Director, Sieg Lindner, as well. In this appointment, discussion of what the current
situation is and what I would like changed would take place. Essentially, I would talk to Matt
Wilton and Sieg Lindner about not having enough healthy options in the Marketplace and the
lack of variety. Then, I would also share what kinds of nutritious foods students would be happy
eating for meals, such as fruits, vegetables, high protein meats, and granola. The funding would
come from discontinuing a few other dishes to substitute them for healthier ones. After this is
acted on, the Marketplace problem would be mostly solved. However, there will still be students
who tire of the food there, so many will end up venturing out. The next step toward the solution
is meeting with the Retail Director, Brooke Murray, who is the contact for the Cardinal Café. In
this meeting, we would discuss the most popular eatery, Panda Express. The other options in this
café are fairly healthy and also decently appealing to young adults, but the options aren’t as
effective as long as the Panda Express is still there tempting students to choose not as wisely.
Taking this unhealthy fast food out and replacing it with a healthier option would allow the
approximate nine thousand students on campus to re-evaluate their diet decisions. They may
consider a sandwich with better protein, or a smoothie midday to curb their hunger until
dinnertime. At the very least, the discussion would work toward taking out the least healthy
options on the menu at Panda Express, such as taking out the fried rice and lo mien options for
the sides. When the only option is to eat healthy, students will comply. Both discussions with the
various Directors dealing with supplying healthier food on our campus would work toward
bettering our campus.
This change would encourage students to lead a healthier life through a better-balanced
diet. If students are more encouraged to eat healthier by the options available to them, they are
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more likely to eat the healthy option. According to Mia Nacamulli in her TED-Ed video,
unhealthy fats found in many fast foods, such as trans and saturated fats, can weaken the brain
(Nacamulli, 2016). Mia also stated that proteins and amino acids more commonly found in
protein-rich meals directly affect people’s mood, sleep patterns, and attentiveness (Nacamulli,
2016). Therefore, if students eat healthy foods, they will have more energy, be more willing to
listen to the lectures they attend, and they will be able to sleep more regularly. All of these will
result in better scores on tests and in courses overall. If students have more energy, they will put
in the time to do their assignments and do them well. They are more likely to get up and go to
early lectures, which student frequently skip. The main idea is that food doesn’t just affect the
student’s image and direct health, it affects their mental health, their motivation, their energy.
Mia states, “While the human brain only takes up about two percent of our body weight, it uses
up to twenty percent of our energy sources,” (Nacamulli, 2016). In order to function in classes,
our bodies need nutrients. Providing students with more than just Panda Express and comfort
food will allow them to better function as learners. Although nutritious food can be expensive, it
is an investment that a university who wants their students to succeed
The solution to inadequately healthy options on Saginaw Valley State University’s
campus and little variety is to provide more nutritious options for students, but what does this
look like for the future of SVSU? With healthier food provided for all people on campus,
students can spend less time driving around Saginaw in heavy traffic in search of a meal that
isn’t what they’ve had for the past two weeks. Students will have more time to study, and the
overall success and graduation rate at SVSU will increase. As we have already proven this to be
true with smaller implementations of healthy options on our campus, we can even further this
result. The sooner we take action, the bigger benefits this will result in. As generations coming in
are expected to pursue a higher education, When people become healthier in one aspect of their
life, they will better other parts of their life. Healthy living is contagious, and it all begins with
one positive change.
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References

Burrows, T. L., Whatnall, M. C., Patterson, A. J., & Hutchesson, M. J. (2017, September 25).
Associations between Dietary Intake and Academic Achievement in College Students: A
Systematic Review. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5746694/.
Dingman, D. A., Schulz, M. R., Wyrick, D. L., Bibeau, D. L., & Gupta, S. N. (2014). Factors
Related to the Number of Fast Food Meals Obtained by College Meal Plan
Students. Journal of American College Health, 62(8), 562–569. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=99282995&site=eds-
live
Nacamulli, M. (2016). How the food you eat affects your brain [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/mia_nacamulli_how_the_food_you_eat_affects_your_brain/tr
anscript?language=en#t-272450.