Living in New York, it’s impossible not to think about food. Walking down a single block can leave you with 10 restaurant choices, 2 bodegas, and a grocery store. Researchers have suggested that the rise in obesity could be due to the ease and access of foods today. No one is hunting or gathering down 5th ave. Or at least not for a source of protein. Perhaps I chose the wrong street.
In any case, for most of society there is no limit to where and when we get food. Restaurants are open all day, grocery stores all night. The idea of going hungry is somewhat foreign in our consumption driven society. However, for some people their economic means puts them in a place where they can’t necessarily take advantage of food in the same way. Townsend et al. (2001) found that food insecurity was positively related to being overweight and obese in women (Journal of Nutrition. 2001;131:1738-1745). At first glance, this seems illogical. If you don’t have access to food, you would think that you’d be more likely to be thin and malnourished, instead of overweight. However a paradox exists, in which those who are food insecure have poor diets consisting of unhealthy foods, and inconsistent eating schedules. When you don’t know where or when you’re going to eat the next day, you probably aren’t going to ponder whether to scarf down the entire sandwich or to choose the low caloric leafy spinach salad. This also ties in to prices of healthy food, the cheap, cheap rates for fatty high caloric items, and subsidized farming. But that’s a whole other topic to conquer.
While I read the research, I wondered if similar findings could be suggested for college students. Everyone has heard of the freshmen fifteen. Most colleges provide unlimited access to food. Free food for club meetings. Cafeterias with buffets. The list goes on. People realize college students are poor, so bringing warm food will bring warm bodies. So although college students might not be seen as really food insecure, in the fact they know they can find it somewhere; they don’t know what they will be getting. I remember in my upperclassman days, wondering what I’d eat the next day. That sounds dramatic, but it’s true. I’ll admit I was/am cheap. I lived off campus and would grocery shop, but preferred not spending money on food if there was an event where I could scrounge for my daily meals. I fortunately had the means to go to the grocery store and make a wise and healthy decision, but if I was going to a meeting or an event I tended to not pack a meal, knowing something (although questioning it’s nutritional content) would be served. This lack of control is similar to those who are food insecure. I would hypothesize that the lack of control makes people eat less healthily, with a lack of clarity for the greater picture or larger time span. People describe your caloric intake like a bank account, you only have a certain amount to spend each day. Well, without knowing what you could possibly purchase, or how much it will be, it’s difficult to stick to a budget.
I believe university settings are improving. More healthy choices are populating menus and meeting snack tables. However, research is still important to see the link between economic status and consumption. How will the current high rates of unemployment and lack of financial stability affect our health? Our eating? At what point, will we involve the government in helping us make healthy decisions?
