Over the past thirty five years, the prevalence of overweight and obesity especially among developing youths has increased dramatically, prompting U. S health organizations and officials to warn of an epidemic of obesity. Being overweight is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 29. 9, and being obese as having a BMI of 30 or higher. Nationwide, 14% of adolescents aged 12-19 years are overweight, with this number having tripled over the past two decades. This means that if colleges do not raise the obesity awareness among the students, the number will keep on increasing.
In the U. S, approximately 350,000 people die each year of diseases related to obesity or being overweight. This number of deaths is higher than the number killed annually by pneumonia, motor vehicle accidents, and airline crashes combined. Overweight and obesity conditions are associated with heart disease, high blood pressure, certain types of cancers, stroke, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, breathing problems, and psychological disorders such as depression. All the aforementioned diseases could be avoided if colleges included a mandatory course on nutrition.
(Page Tana S. , 2003, Pgs 132-135) On the other hand, eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa are also common especially among young women. Eating disorders are food related means by which individuals attempt to relieve emotional problems such as low self esteem, lack of social acceptance, fear of rejection and the inability to express feelings in appropriate ways. Young girls are susceptible to eating disorders just before or after puberty. The emergence of an eating disorder may be an unconscious effort to delay physical maturing.
Stress also triggers eating disorders. Stressful life events that that may trigger eating disorders among the youth are a broken love relationship, moving, parental death or divorce or ridicule by others that the individual is fat of becoming fat. Young people with eating disorders feel isolated, inadequate, lonely and depressed. Despite their low self esteem, they do well in school and other extracurricular activities like drama, music, athletics and other forms of art. This is confusing to parents, friends, and teachers because their achievements are so apparent.
However, the drive to achieve comes not from the satisfaction of accomplishment but from an overwhelming fear of failure or rejection. (Page Tana S. , 2003, Pgs 137-140) c) There is proof of improved nutritional behavior in students who receive nutritional education. Students who receive lessons on nutrition have more positive behavioral changes than students who attend fewer or no lessons. To achieve stable, positive changes in student’s eating behaviors; adequate time should be allocated for nutrition education lectures. The curriculum should be sequential to all college years; attention should be paid to scope and sequence.
When designing a curriculum, colleges should assess and address their student’s needs and concerns. A curriculum targeted to a limited number of behaviors might make the most effective use of the scarce instructional time available fro nutrition education. The primary goal of nutritional education should be to help the young persons adopt eating behaviors that will promote health and reduce risk for disease. Behaviorally based education encourages specific healthy eating behaviors, like eating less fat and sodium and eating more fruits and vegetables. (Page Tana S. , 2003, Pgs 146-147)