It's time for dinner. What to eat? The choices are endless. Ruby Tuesday has original chicken tenders with ranch dressing -- don't forget the fries and Coke. Or cook at home and have a grilled piece of chicken, steamed broccoli, some mashed potatoes and a Diet Coke.
Other than time and money, what's the difference? The Ruby Tuesday's meal is about 1,460 calories and 67 grams of fat. The meal at home is about 270 calories and a mere 6 grams of fat, according to calorieking.com.
Problems with maintaining weight are a constant dilemma for many Americans. Over 60 million people in the United States -- 30 percent of adults ages 20 and older -- are obese, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
"I think that this is a society problem and that we all should be concerned about it, even if it is not personally affecting us," University Medical Center Dietitian Melissa Edwards said.
A national health goal is to reduce the proportion of adults who are obese to 15 percent by the year 2010, according to the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. An estimated 112,000 deaths are related to obesity every year according to recent findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"It really is an epidemic," University registered dietitian Theresa Anderson said. "Lack of meal structure, lack of variety and lack of regular exercise," are three major problems associated with weight management.
Mary Lou Perry, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator, said she believes that Americans are consuming too many saturated fats and trans fats -- synthetically produced fatty oils commonly found in margarine, shortening and baked goods that are linked to cardiovascular diseases.
"People need to establish a healthy diet and a healthy relationship with food," Perry said. "Portion control and eating too many calories are major problems."
The American Diabetes Association holds that reducing serving sizes and exercising regularly can reduce the risk of getting diabetes by more than half. Anderson said she believes that people tend to gain weight when they don't watch their portion sizes.
A serving size of meat, fish or chicken is equal to a deck of playing cards. One serving for an ounce of cheese is the size of four dice. A cup of milk, yogurt or fresh greens would fit into the average size of a woman's hand. A medium piece of fruit would be about the size of a baseball, according to Anderson.
"The most common problem for first years is eating in the dining halls," Anderson said. "People are eating a buffet at every meal."
The smorgasbord offered to students can be tempting and result in poor eating habits.
"In the dining hall I basically got whatever looked good," fourth-year College student Josh Singer said. "When I sat down with all of my food, I would finish my plate and then have some dessert."
Singer does not have a meal plan anymore.
"By not having a meal plan, I do not have the convenience of eating in a buffet type of situation," he said, adding that since ditching the meal plan, he's been making healthier food choices and exercising more frequently. "I now make a limited amount of food instead of ordering out."
But it is possible to lead a healthy lifestyle living in an "O-Hill" dining culture. Third-year Engineering student Kevin Chang said maintaining weight control and healthy choices is more a matter of choice and discipline.
"I try to make it to the dining hall two to three times a week because there salad, fruit and other healthier choices are more readily available," Chang said.
Eating out also provides both healthy and unhealthy choices, depending upon student choices.
With the 2004 release of the documentary "Super Size Me," much media attention was brought to the fast food industry's menu choices. The documentary depicted filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's choice to eat McDonald's food exclusively for 30 days. Audiences saw Spurlock's health degrading through the month, of which included gained weight and body fat, reduced liver function and spiked triglyceride levels.
Despite the higher calorie content, dining away from home may be a matter of convenience. Fourth-year Commerce student Brendan Sorem said he eats out twice a day.
"It's pretty tough to be healthy on the Corner because there are not too many good options," Sorem said. "I don't have the time to cook a decent meal at home -- it's easier to eat out for me."
Living a healthy lifestyle on the Corner may be tough but not impossible, according to third-year Engineering student Tyler Cassidy.
"When I go to the Corner, I try to avoid greasy foods," Cassidy said. "I go to Bodo's and get the 'everything bagel' with cream cheese. It's relatively healthier."
Chang agreed, noting that he often gets a chicken Caesar wrap when dining out on the Corner as opposed to a hamburger or pizza.
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