What is public health? Students in the UGA Health & Wellness class are here to help you find out! They have strategically identified examples in the Athens community that they feel represent public health in action. This blog is dedicated to explaining, understanding, and discussing what their interpretations of public health, as well as their reactions to learning about topics of health and wellness.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Reaction Piece


     On Tuesday 2/12, we had a guest lecturer come and talk to us about nutrition. This lecture really interested me, because I actually am interested in nutrition and try to eat healthy and maintain an active lifestyle. He mentioned that nutrition is especially important for college students, because now we are solely relying on ourselves other than our parents to make dinner for us, so it is an added stressor. I completely agree, and being on meal plan last year provided me with the convenience of food, but I didn’t always resist those chocolate chip cookies. Whereas now living in an apartment, I have the option of choosing what I want to cook (which I love to do) and what I want to put in my body to fuel it for the day. I believe nutrition is extremely important to our health, because it gives us the energy to live our lives to the fullest. I also believe getting regular exercise is an extremely important aspect that should be done daily. I strive to go to the gym at least five days a week and usually end up running at least three miles a day along with weight training.           
            One of the points that I liked that he mentioned was the fact that nutrition, and food in general should be enjoyable. We should like to plan out our food and make it an event, rather than not care what we put into our bodies. I love food, and I really enjoy when I personally cook something myself, or plan to go out and eat something really delicious. This is what is called “normal eating” and being able to not obsess over food, but planning is necessary and enjoyable.
            Overall, I enjoyed this presentation on nutrition since he related it to our lives as students. There are certainly reasons why students resort to fast food due to timing issues, and why some students tend to lead unhealthy lifestyles. However, you can live a healthy life during school with a little planning and dedication towards your health, which is going to be more beneficial later in your life. I could agree with what he was lecturing about, and some of the tools like planning out meals and knowing what to limit food-wise I already knew. He was interactive, enthusiastic, and did a good job.
            The only question I have regarding this topic is to other students, and what exactly do they do for quick meals? It can useful to hear other people’s ideas and input. Nutrition is extremely important in public health, because it is essentially the core to everything else.

By: Meagan Will

1 comment:

  1. I found this lecture to be very helpful as well. Being a young adult in college, it is very important to me to stay healthy and fit. From this guest speaker I was able to learn that staying healthy does not necessarily mean starving yourself or forcing yourself to eat foods you do not even like. Instead, it is more helpful to your body to eat things you do like, only in moderation. Also, I found the setting goals idea to be helpful. I never thought of setting goals as an approach to health, but now I see how it could help me be successful in gaining the healthy lifestyle I wish to achieve
    For quick meals, I like to do baked chicken. Just buy a chicken breast from the store and pop it in the oven for thirty minutes and you have a filling, healthy meal. Maybe cook some veggies on the side! That's what I eat most of my days for lunch and it is very quick and easy.

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