iCampers struggle to temper their junk food cravings
Bond, 21, has always been health conscious. He originates from a gluten-free household and has adapted to the home-cooked meals that have been prepared for him throughout his youth. He typically avoids unhealthy foods and works out one-to-three times a week.
But after becoming a full-time student at West Chester University, Bond noticed there were more junk food options than he was used to. And despite his best efforts to modify less healthier options, Bond couldn’t contain his cravings.
But he isn’t alone. iCamp students also expressed the same concerns.
Beginning in childhood, a person’s environment will continuously and drastically change their daily routines; this includes but is not limited to specific diets and health practices. In fact, health-related regimens are arguably the most influenced by one’s environment. Healthy habits heavily rely on routine and/or repetition. If a person’s surroundings undergo any sort of change, the likelihood of their health changing as well also increases.
This is a very common trend amongst many young adults. As they begin to grow and prepare for the transition into college, a great number of this group will experience a disruption in their patterns. By allowing students to live on campus for the college experience, the start of the iCamp program affected each individual student differently. With a more structured schedule, the majority of iCamp students and counselors struggle to uphold a healthy routine, while some fail to notice any substantial change from their health regimens at home.
Even after years of being on campus, iCamp counselor Brandon Bond still has trouble balancing his on-campus lifestyle. Along with his academic workload and challenging schedule, one of the bigger struggles he faces is with his diet.
Although the dining hall includes some healthy foods, Bond said the cafe doesn’t have the usual meals he’s accustomed to. It doesn’t help that working out has been a challenge as well.
Bond, an upcoming senior at West Chester University, said it’s been increasingly difficult to temper his sweet tooth. “It’s been challenging to some degree trying to find different eating habits, and eating at different times of the day,” Bond said.
Working out also became a challenge as classes and different activities at the college consumed most of his time. Additionally, the student also noticed that these activities disrupted his sleep schedule, leaving him tired most days. Despite the challenges, Bond is continuing to try and keep up with his health status.
Erin Dandy is a 17-year-old female from Philadelphia who is a participating student in West Chester’s iCamp. She is extremely organized with almost everything in her life, except her healthy habits. Dandy when interviews revealed, like Bond, has been struggling to adapt to her new environment. Not only has she been eating foods that she does regularly eat, as she normally just eats a pancake breakfast and the home-cooked dinner her parents make for her.
She is worried her health will decline because she is eating more than she is used to and larger portion sizes, but she is also eating the same greasy, fattening foods every single day. Dandy also workouts throughout the weeks, however, with the workload and the already predetermined schedule, she has not found the time to exercise to the extent she feels is necessary. With the constant changes, this teenager is encountering the consequences of poor health.
As stated before, many other students have not noticed a big change in their health habits. For instance, Jayden Middlebrookes, a 17-year-old iCamp student from the Southwest area of Philadelphia, has not changed much of his routine, especially regarding his diet. Middlebrookes is your average teenage boy. He enjoys junk food and includes most of it in his day-to-day meals. Similar to most kids his age, he does not have a strict meal plan.
The boy will eat two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, and eat unhealthy snacks to fill his empty stomach. For breakfast, Middlebrookes will start off his day generally with a meal consisting of eggs, skip over lunch, and eat fast food for dinner, implementing some kind of protein most of the time. When Middlebrookes arrived at iCamp and was met with the food options at West Chester University, he kept up with his usual meals; fries, burgers, carbonated drinks, etc. Middlebrookes defied the majority’s experience by successfully managing to maintain his diet, regardless of the other available options.
In summary, one’s health can directly be affected by their environment. People will alter and completely change their habits to better adapt to their new settings. The West Chester media iCamp introduced students to the hard process of trying to get through college life while also remembering to take care of their bodies, both mentally and physically. Both students and counselors were interviewed and revealed their overall experience with this battle.
As a whole, these young adults either continued their already unhealthy lifestyles, or were unable to support their routines. Whether this is frome the cafeteria foods available, busy schedules, or simply just habit, all suffered from a major decline in health. Taking care of the human body is a very important component of life. More often than not, people will put themselves last to continue on with other aspects of life, this is particularly common with people in academic conditions. By bringing more awareness to this issue, hopefully scholars will become more conscious of their well-being.
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