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They come for the food.

“It’s addictive,” said Struder, who slowly eats an Arby’s sandwich. “I could care less what goes into my body. I’ve got a gut, so what?”

Zocher and Struder are only two of many collegiates who regularly dine at fast food restaurants. For students juggling homework, a social life and employment all at once, cooking is often not an option.

And fast food can be so convenient.

“It’s cheap, it’s quick,” Zocher said.

Fast food restaurants located near the University of Minnesota cater to students by staying open late.

“[Arby’s/Sbarro] is open until midnight and at Burger King, you can sit in there all night,” Zocher said.

Although both Zocher and Struder believe fast food is unhealthy, they feel they are informed enough to make their own choices about whether or not to eat it.

“You kind of know what you’re getting when you get fast food,” said Zocher. “But I’ve noticed a lot more [restaurants] are informing people about the health stuff and are making [portions] smaller.”

It’s well known that the U.S. has a bit of a weight problem, and books like Fast Food Nation and the well-recieved documentary Supersize Me blame the fast food industry.

Well, someone has to take the heat for it.

Dr. Julie Jones, a licensed nutritionist, and Pat Ode, a licensed dietician, agree that it all comes down to choice.

It’s not all in the fault of the big, bad fast food industry.

“It’s because of busy lifestyles that maybe half of college students have difficulty eating healthfully day in and day out,” said Ode, who works with Jones in the College of St. Catherine’s Family, Consumer and Nutritional Sciences Department.

Both women agree that fast food is not the real problem.

“I don’t think anyone should avoid fast food,” said Jones. “There should be no forbidden foods, only foods you eat infrequently. The only problem with fast food is that some people eat it every single day.”

Ode said that it’s the way people choose to eat at fast food restaurants that hurts them in the long run.

“You want to look at portion size,” she said. “[Choose] smaller sandwiches, the regular cheeseburger and
a side salad option.”

College students are, in general, not making the right meal choices, according to Jones.

“We’ve lost all sorts of common sense about the normal amount to eat and what you ought to choose on a regular basis,” she said.

Students often make poor decisions when it comes to food out of habit, said Ode, who has been a registered dietician for over 30 years.

“It may be a habit that saturated even before college,” she said. “But quick foods may not represent all of the nutrients that you need.”

Jones agrees. “Habits change hard,” she said.

It’s up to the consumer to make the right food choices, according to Jones and Ode.

Talk about pressure.

“You can have a meal plan or cook for yourself and make all the wrong choices and you can eat in a fast food restaurant and make the right choices,” said Jones. “It’s really about the commitment to make the right choice. It’s not about being perfect all the time.”

She admits that even she slips up from time to time.

“There are some days that it is impossible to [eat] what I know I’m supposed to,” she said.
Many college students eat fast food, said Jones, because they aren’t yet concerned about their health.

“Health concerns aren’t very prevalent among college students,” she said. “They’ll only avoid [food] if they think it causes zits or makes them fat.”

The reality is, once an adult is set in his or her eating habits, changing them is difficult.

“You can stop eating fast food,” said Jones, “but if you are overweight as a child or as a college student, the chance you will be overweight as an adult is 80-90%.”

Like Jones, Ode thinks fast food chains aren’t the source of the poor nutrition values amongst U.S. college students.

“I don’t think [fast food restaurants] are all bad,” she said. “I think people make their own choices.”
Next time, Super Size a salad.

For more information about healthy eating, please visit www.mypyramid.gov.