As the cold-weather season drags on, staying active and eating healthy can become increasingly difficult to manage, especially for the non-student athletes on campus. According to the U.S. National Health and Nutrition survey in 2016, less than 3 percent of American adults live a “healthy lifestyle” according to criteria made of four basic principles: a good diet, moderate exercise, non-smoking and keeping body fat under control.
For college students, taking care of those four things may seem even more difficult due to a busy schedule, a tight budget and the college lifestyle in and of itself. Healthy nutrition and a balanced diet are oftentimes one of the things that college students struggle most with in particular.
“I can tell on days that I don’t eat very well, I get really tired throughout the day. If I get a good breakfast in the morning, I don’t really need to nap during the day which is nice,” said senior kinesiology student Kristian Konneck.
Although a nice breakfast and a healthy diet may be the difference between falling asleep in the back row and retaining valuable class-time information, exercise science program coordinator Marilyn Skarbek believes that for optimal performance, it is essential to maintain an adequate level of physical activity as well.
“Performance means meeting the demands placed on you every day. Everybody has to perform, whether it’s at work, at school or at home. Exercise can impact those cellular and biochemical mechanisms, helping them perform better to help you perform better,” said Skarbek.
When we think about college and living a healthy lifestyle, alcohol usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. While making healthy choices Monday through Friday it is important to remain mindful of keeping that high-level of performance which on the weekends can often be forgotten.
“It has a caloric value, which people don’t think about a lot and it also doesn’t have super great effects on the human body. So I would just suggest replacing it with something else,” said Skarbek.
On campus, there are several resources available to all students, including the fitness center in Res/Rec, fitness classes, intramural sports and much more. North Central supplements that with a staff of kinesiology and nutrition experts on campus.
It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to understand how important it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle and consciously make a few healthier choices every day.
