![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/files\/2016\/03\/unnamed-4.jpg\")
<\/a>Dwayne Joseph Jr. Are you eating to live or do you live to eat? This is just one of the many questions college students face on a daily basis. And the wrong answer can have long lasting consequences.<\/p>\n College can be an exciting time in a young person\u2019s life. The freedom to do what you want, how you want and when you want is sometimes more of a burden than a privilege, especially when it comes to eating choices.<\/p>\n With so many food options available, many students, like Erin Miller, believe that eating healthy affects all aspects of a college student\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Miller, a senior finance major from Stockbridge, Ga. said, \u201cStudents should eat healthy because it leads to mental sharpness and good emotional health when you are just focused. Greasy foods make a student sluggish, and eating healthy leads to greater academic performance which leads to reduced stress and ahealthy social life, because everything is tied to health.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with helping students stay focused eating healthy also helps prevent the infamous Freshman 15. Freshman 15 is an expression that refers to the weight gained during a student\u2019s first year of college.<\/p>\n According to eatright.org, there are many factors that can contribute to weight gain for incoming college students; a decrease in regular physical activity or sports involvement, dining halls with unlimited food choices, increased snacking, and drinking more caloric beverages such as high-fat, sugary coffee drinks, soda, energy drinks and alcohol.<\/p>\n According to Dr. Shane Sims, M.D. of Women\u2019s Health Associates in Flowood, Miss., the Freshman 15 is very real.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing out late, very late and nothing open but a pizza shacks, I\u2019m going to eat pizza! I remember my freshman year of college and I absolutely gained weight, but not as much as females that were along with me, but I did noticeably gain weight. Being away from home and getting the freedom to eat exactly what you want, when you want will sometimes severely impact your weight. The Freshman 15 has significantly increased to an estimated 20-to-25 pounds depending on your surroundings, and what food choices are available,\u201d said Dr. Sims. All factors coincide with life on Jackson State campus.<\/p>\n Tiara Turner, a sophomore English major from Memphis, Tenn., believes the advantages of healthy eating while in college are too important to ignore.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important for students to eat healthy because it prepares them for school. If a student is not eating well, and just consuming things that are not healthy, what would they think the outcome will be?\u201d said Turner. \u201cIf you eat healthy, you will get those grades you desire, you will get that sleep you need, you will even have time to hang out with friends because you\u2019re eating healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether a student is eating in the caf\u00e9, local restaurants, or even buying certain foods to whip up themselves, most medical experts agree that eating healthy should always be the main goal for those seeking physical and emotional well being.<\/p>\n Aneshia Becton contributed to the story.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dwayne Joseph Jr. MC Contributor\/Staff Are you eating to live or do you live to eat? This is just one of the many questions college…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>MC Contributor\/Staff<\/em><\/p>\n