Men vs Women: Eating Habits
Kevin Walker
Professor Echelberger
ENG 201
2 March 2010
Eating Habits: Men versus Women Getting a hot meal in college is very easy. Most college students have a very short walk to their campus cafeteria. Entering the cafeteria, there is generally an array of meals to choose from. Researchers have been studying the eating habits of college students for a while. Although the studies are predominately due to the typical increase in weight of Americans over the past few centuries, the data has shown interesting results not pertaining to their research. A fascinating question has arisen to add to the ponderous question of how men and women differ. The question that I was looking to gain knowledge on was “how do men and women vary in food choices?” Central Michigan University’s cafeteria Rfoc (Real Food on Campus) was the perfect observatory for my research. The university’s campus hosts sixteen different locations to get meals from. The assortment of cafeterias allows for tremendous convenience to the students who need to fit several meals into a jam packed day. Do these busy days force students to eat quick unhealthy snacks instead of a nutritious meal? Many researchers think the stress from school and a busy schedule force students to put nutrition on the back burner. Others have seen a trend in eating healthy or unhealthy between men and women. Considering all I have to do is walk down four flights of stairs to the Rfoc, I chose to observe at this location. Walking into the cafeteria there were many vantage points to choose from. The main floor seating would be good since it would put me in the middle of the most eaters. Then I started thinking about how I’d be looked at funny for staring at people since I might lock eyes with someone. Next vantage point I looked at was the tables by the Mediterranean pasta station. Only problem with sitting there was that I would see mostly people eating the Mediterranean food which would skew my
Professor Echelberger
ENG 201
2 March 2010
Eating Habits: Men versus Women Getting a hot meal in college is very easy. Most college students have a very short walk to their campus cafeteria. Entering the cafeteria, there is generally an array of meals to choose from. Researchers have been studying the eating habits of college students for a while. Although the studies are predominately due to the typical increase in weight of Americans over the past few centuries, the data has shown interesting results not pertaining to their research. A fascinating question has arisen to add to the ponderous question of how men and women differ. The question that I was looking to gain knowledge on was “how do men and women vary in food choices?” Central Michigan University’s cafeteria Rfoc (Real Food on Campus) was the perfect observatory for my research. The university’s campus hosts sixteen different locations to get meals from. The assortment of cafeterias allows for tremendous convenience to the students who need to fit several meals into a jam packed day. Do these busy days force students to eat quick unhealthy snacks instead of a nutritious meal? Many researchers think the stress from school and a busy schedule force students to put nutrition on the back burner. Others have seen a trend in eating healthy or unhealthy between men and women. Considering all I have to do is walk down four flights of stairs to the Rfoc, I chose to observe at this location. Walking into the cafeteria there were many vantage points to choose from. The main floor seating would be good since it would put me in the middle of the most eaters. Then I started thinking about how I’d be looked at funny for staring at people since I might lock eyes with someone. Next vantage point I looked at was the tables by the Mediterranean pasta station. Only problem with sitting there was that I would see mostly people eating the Mediterranean food which would skew my
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