The 'All-You-Can-Eat' Mentality - Is the College Campus Dining Room Contributing to the Obesity Epidemic?

Online, November 19, 2009 (Newswire.com) - There has been recent turmoil among college students that the so-called 'freshman 15' is caused by campus cafeterias making high fat, high sugar and high salt foods too readily available to their patrons.

One 21 year old male student commented; "Everyone around me indulges constantly. The soda is in unlimited supply, there are so many desserts and fried foods - and I have to look at them and smell them."

One leading researcher commented; "College is a critical time for people to create good - or not so good - eating habits."

Travis Steffen, fitness expert at WorkoutBOX, says, "Instead of blaming cafeterias, students need to shift their focus to taking responsibility of their own lifestyle by taking regular exercise, making healthy food choices and limiting alcohol intake. A new environment with the added pressure of having to fit in and make new friends can lead to over-indulging in social activities. It's a combination of these things that are likely to take their toll and cause an increase in weight - not just the choice of cafeteria food on its own."

Steffen also advised. "Start as you mean to go on. Take responsibility for your own health by adopting a healthy balanced diet and a regular exercise program early on. This ensures that you maintain a healthy weight throughout your college years and beyond. A good exercise program should be balanced and include a variation of exercises to ensure that your body keeps adapting. Students should take the opportunity to fully utilize the fantastic sports and gym facilities available at most college campuses."

http://www.workoutbox.com offers professionally designed workouts with step-by-step video instructions, combined with personalized support from an in-house fitness team. An ideal workout for students to get started with would be their 'Dumbbell Fat Burning Workout". It only requires a set of dumbbells to get going and can be done in less than 30 minutes.