College Students Poor Food Choices Due to Stress
College Students Poor Food Choices Due To Stress
Rebecca Vlha
Holy Names University
Part I
Many college students develop eating disorders or they may develop habits that will make them obese in the future because of their bad habits that they acquire due to the stress that they are put under. Depending on what or how much each college student decides to participate in during their time being a college student. Stress is anything that is causing one uncomfortable emotions. Some examples of uncomfortable feelings might be anxiety, depression, feeling pressured, procrastination, troubled relationships with peers, not doing well in academics, or not being economically successful. Students that live in the dorms may choose fattening foods at the cafeteria or “treat” themselves to fast food because they are emotionally unstable. Most of these college students also do not think that their new habit is a negative one. The reason why college students eat fattening, high sugar foods could be because of a mental or a biological satisfaction. This research will give an explanation for why many medicate their emotional states with food. Food choices are often made based on one’s unhappiness, angst, or trauma. College students may feel as though pleasing their mouths will please their hearts and ease their state of stress. Many will endorse preferring the taste of highly salted, high sugar content foods, while others will state that this is the food they grew up eating, and some will say this is what is most affordable and accessible. Doing anything excessive because a stressor is acting upon you damages ones psyche; when one over eats and becomes obese, their sense of your self-image is altered negatively.
The Café with buffets, fast food restaurants, and late night pizza deliveries are just a few of the enticements that college students are facing as they adjust to their new found independence and life on their own for the first time. My freshman roommate was from
Rebecca Vlha
Holy Names University
Part I
Many college students develop eating disorders or they may develop habits that will make them obese in the future because of their bad habits that they acquire due to the stress that they are put under. Depending on what or how much each college student decides to participate in during their time being a college student. Stress is anything that is causing one uncomfortable emotions. Some examples of uncomfortable feelings might be anxiety, depression, feeling pressured, procrastination, troubled relationships with peers, not doing well in academics, or not being economically successful. Students that live in the dorms may choose fattening foods at the cafeteria or “treat” themselves to fast food because they are emotionally unstable. Most of these college students also do not think that their new habit is a negative one. The reason why college students eat fattening, high sugar foods could be because of a mental or a biological satisfaction. This research will give an explanation for why many medicate their emotional states with food. Food choices are often made based on one’s unhappiness, angst, or trauma. College students may feel as though pleasing their mouths will please their hearts and ease their state of stress. Many will endorse preferring the taste of highly salted, high sugar content foods, while others will state that this is the food they grew up eating, and some will say this is what is most affordable and accessible. Doing anything excessive because a stressor is acting upon you damages ones psyche; when one over eats and becomes obese, their sense of your self-image is altered negatively.
The Café with buffets, fast food restaurants, and late night pizza deliveries are just a few of the enticements that college students are facing as they adjust to their new found independence and life on their own for the first time. My freshman roommate was from
Bibliography: Carol Olander. Eating habit questionnaire. 1999. 3/13/13 <http://www.nncc.org/evaluation/nutrition5.html>. Dr. France Bellisle. The Determinants of Food Choice . 08/03/2013. 3/09/12 <http://www.eufic.org/article/en/expid/review-food-choice/>. Grilo, C. M., & White, M. A. (2011). A controlled evaluation of the distress criterion for binge eating disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(4), 509-514. doi: 10.1037/a0024259 Grossbard, J. R., Atkins, D. C., Geisner, I. M., & Larimer, M. E. (2012). Does depressed mood moderate the influence of drive for thinness and muscularity on eating disorder symptoms among college men? Psychology of Men & Mascularity, doi: 10. 1037/a0028913 Mackinnon, S. P., Sherry, S. B., Graham, A. R., Stewart, S. H., Sherry, D. L., Allen, S. L. McGrath, D. S. (2011). Reformulating and undergraduate women: A short term, three-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(4) , 630-646. doi: 10.1037/a0025068 Morehead State University . Stress Survey. 2011. 3/12/13 <http://www2.moreheadstate.edu/leo/index.aspx?id=6299>. Stice, E., Rohde, P., Shaw, H., & Marti, C. N. (2012). Efficacy trail of a selective precention program targeting both eating disorder symptoms and unhealthy weight gain among female college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 164-170. doi: 10.1037/a0026484 Tylka, T. L., & Kroon, V. D. (2013). The intuitive eating Scale-2: Item refinement and psychometric evaluation with college women and men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(1), 137-153. doi: 10.1037/a0030893;10.1037/a0030893.supp (Supplemental)