The University of Nevada has been making impressive changes to their menu, especially in the Downunder Café, to combat the ever-rising obesity rates in the United States.
Though the food options are made available to students, ultimately the decision to eat healthily is left up to student discretion and does not always reflect healthy food choices.
Russ Meyer is the Associate Director for Housing Operations and Dining Services. He summed up the general opinion on campus by saying “fat tastes good. However, the number of people eating vegetarian, vegan, and healthier food in general has gone up.”
Meyer makes sure that the students are able to request food that they would like to see offered on campus, namely in the Downunder Café. He feels that the most difficult part of increasing healthy eating habits on campus is getting the students to make a change in their eating habits.
Patrick Nyeko, a freshman studying Socieology at the university, is a basketball player who admits that his food choices are not always the healthiest. “I eat whatever puts the weight on,” Nyeko said. He enjoys his meals from the Downunder Café at least once daily. He said his favorite food offered on campus is rootbeer floats.
“We can respond to requests pretty easily, it’s something we need to do. We make the changes that we can in preparing the food, sometimes without people knowing it. We do what makes sense from a health standpoint,” Meyer said.
He said that the way the cooks are preparing the food now is also different from how they used to be prepared. They have switched to making more baked instead of fried foods, and offering a low fat alternative to many salad dressings and meal items.
Meyer is one of the faculty responsible for making changes to the menu on campus yearly. “The menu now is drastically different from the menu 15 years ago,” Meyer said.
In the research he has done about campus eating trends, he found that students oftentimes will eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and reward themselves with half of a pint of ice cream. “We don’t have control over what they choose, but it’s our job to make healthy options available to them,” Meyer said.
Cheryl Middlemiss is the Resident Dining Manager in the Downunder Café. She explained that the company the university hired for food service is mandated to use healthier ingredients in their food.
“We are contracted from another food service company that requires us to use canola oil, for example,” Middlemiss said.
Other than the mandatory food changes, the cooks and directors of food service make a wide array of health food available to students dining in the Downunder Café.
“The students decide what they’re going to eat. We have a large salad bar with a wide variety of toppings, tofu, vegan and vegetarian options, low fat yogurt and cottage cheese, and our soups are all homemade instead of pre-cooked,” Middlemiss said.
For health-conscious students, Middlemiss also explained a binder filled with nutrition facts about the food prepared in the DC that is available to students, but only few take advantage of the information. “If there’s something the kids want to know about the food that isn’t in the binder, we gladly go and look up the information in the back for them,” Middlemiss said.
Jenny Mital, a sophomore majoring in Environmental Engineering reported eating at the Downunder Café three times a day, where she enjoys vegetarian food, mainly the salad bar, and a small dessert. The new flavors of ice cream offered in the Downunder Café are not favorites among all of the students. “I can’t have milk, but it’s okay because I don’t like the ice cream,” Mital said.
According to Andrea Shales M.S. R.D., a healthy body mass index or BMI for both men and women ages 18 and older is 18.5 to 24.9. Those who have a BMI measured above the healthy range face serious consequences to their bodies, both internally and externally.
“Obesity’s internal effects on the body include diabetes, congestive heart failure, hypertension, and possible strokes,” Shales said. “Externally, obesity makes people’s quality of life more difficult, especially in performing activities of daily life.”
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 32.2 percent of men and 35.5 percent of women were medically categorized as obese from 2007 to 2008.
Information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that obesity in the United States has been a growing problem for Americans. Obesity rates have been increasingly staggering from 1976 to 1980, 1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2000.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed up on obesity statistics in the United States. Their conclusions included that from 1998 to 1994, obesity in America raised eight percent compared to statistics recorded from 1976 to 1980. Men and women studied in 2007 and 2008 also had higher body mass indexes than those in 1999 and 2000.
The median BMI of men ages 20 to 39 from 2007 to 2008 was 26.0, 27.4 for men 40 to 59 years old, and 27.5 for men 60 years old and older. Women recorded during the same time period age 20 to 39 years old had a BMI of 25.6, 27.6 for women 40 to 59 years old, and 27.4 for women 60 years old and older.
To read a caption about the following graph, click on the illustration:
BMI Comparison of American Men and Women:
from 1999 to 2000 and 2007 to 2008
Statistical data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed standard measuring practices qualifying people with a BMI greater than 25 as obese. Those recorded as having a BMI between 35 and 39 are considered to have Grade 2 obesity, and those having a 40 or higher BMI are categorized in Grade 3 obesity.
To read a caption about the following graph, click on the illustration:
Rates of Men and Women Classified in Grade 2 and Grade 3 Obesity:
from 2007 to 2008
Shales suggests that people exercise three to five times per week. “Exercise should be adjusted for people’s personal diet. And once people get into a workout routine, their bodies get accustomed to exercise and they may not see the desired results; in this case, they should increase their exercise.”
In order to combat these statistics, some people have been making personal changes to their daily exercise and diet regimens.
Jared Hobson, a freshman at the university studying nursing, eats at the Downunder Café at least once a day. “I usually go straight to the homestyle section, it’s a better quality of food as opposed to pizza.” However, he does make room for dessert. Concerning the new ice cream offered in the Café, “I like my ice cream” Hobson said.
Unfortunately, though these options are offered to any student dining on campus, not all students take full advantage of the well-balanced meals accompanying an exercise regimen, which leads to obesity.
The University of Nevada has done its part in aiding students in making healthy lifestyle choices, but as much as the Food Services staff does for the students, it is a personal decision to eat healthy food and exercise.
Video of interview footage with Shales, Meyer, and Middlemiss:
To view a photo gallery of the Downunder Cafe, please view the link below:
