As far as studying is concerned, taking healthy meals is a basic requirement for all students. However, most college students barely have enough time to eat due to the overload of work and stress related to school work. In the end, they don’t get a chance to enjoy a healthy meal until well-satiated.
The school stress and stress from outside school make students develop bad eating habits that affect their overall health. While I will opt to domyhomeworknow.com, some other students will prefer to skip meals to have their homework done. Still, some will run to fast food restaurants just to quench their hunger and thirst to save time. However, do you know that enjoying a healthy meal can improve your overall experience in school? We highlight some of the top food trends on college campuses you should know. Keep reading.
Barriers to healthy eating for college students
Before we describe food trends for college students, let’s discuss things that hinder college students from eating well as they practice bad eating habits.
Financial issues
Some college students feel pressure when it comes to financial issues. As a result, the little they have, they spend on basic such as tuition fees to ensure they achieve their academic goals.
Lack of knowledge and skills
While some students may have adequate finances, they simply lack good knowledge and skills in cooking and eating healthy meals. As a result, they resolve any meal available, and in most cases, they opt for junk food.
Insufficient time
College life can be extremely daunting and tiring. After school hours, some students lack enough time to get a proper meal and go for any meal available or skip the idea of having a meal.
Preferences
Still, some college students will have all the time and resources to ensure they have a proper meal. However, out of preference, they settle to choose the meals they want, and sometimes, it may not be a healthy option.
These are just among the many other reasons denying college students enhance to embrace a healthy diet as they study.
Tips to help college students embrace a healthy diet
Having discussed some of the hindrances making it hard for students to embrace healthy eating habits, let’s describe some of the best tips and measures college students can practice embracing good eating habits.
Do not skip breakfast
According to some research, skipping breakfast impacts academic performance negatively. Therefore, as a college student who wants to become more productive, always create time to enjoy a healthy breakfast meal.
Keep a low sugar intake
Sugary meals tend to provide your body with more calories and fewer nutrients that are good for the body. Therefore, such meals are likely to keep your tummy full, yet they are less nutritious. Besides, sugary meals are known to contribute to tooth decay.
Take note of fast foods
Well, fast foods are always a superb option for busy college students. However, if a student doesn’t put in appropriate measures, such fast foods can bring more harm than good. Therefore, if it’s a must, ensure to consider portion control and include a healthy salad by the side.
Always have a snack by your side
A college student is a busy student. When studying late at night, hunger can strike, and preparing a meal at such hours can be hard. However, with a healthy snack on standby, you can always break for a few minutes, eat, and continue with your studies.
Popular food trends for college students
As far as healthy eating for college students is concerned, let’s highlight some of the current trends to watch out for.
Healthy Fast Food
According to this trend, the perfect food for a busy student is quick and delicious yet healthy, and this is where healthy snacking for college students comes in.
Therefore, healthy fast food means students shouldn’t try too hard to have a healthy meal considering the tight lifestyle they lead in school. Instead, they should have a healthy meal option ready to grab and go.
Conscious Consumerism
There is no doubt the current student generation believes that they are advocates of ethical and sustainable food habits. 64%of students believe that ethical and sustainable snacks produced aren’t enough to fit everyone. Besides, a bigger percentage of students agreed to the fact that should there be ethically produced and healthy snacks; they will even pay more for such meals as a way of embracing conscious consumerism.
Therefore, as a way of reaching out to this group’s needs, food campus teams must communicate practices they put in place to ensure they produce delicious, healthy, and quick meals to meet the student’s needs.
Adventurous Flavors
College students make a group of young foodies. The fact that they are highly exposed to different cultures and practices, the demand for multicultural food keeps increasing. Thanks to different social media platforms, they keep pushing and fueling the concept of trying adventurous meals to explore different flavors.
Purposeful Snacking
The research done by Y-pulse shows that the current generation of college students is aware of the need to embrace healthy eating habits as compared to previous generations. The results revealed that most students prefer to pay even more as long as the meals and snacks are organic and healthy.
Customizable Cuisine
A customizable cuisine is simply a group of college students with their efforts dedicated to trying plant-based meals as compared to the previous generation. However, the most important aspect to them is customizing a meal to meet their desires and to fulfill diet requirements as a way of embracing a healthy lifestyle.
Customizable cuisine, therefore, is all about ensuring that students get varied healthy dining options, especially for students who are allergic to some meals. This concept makes all students feel well-represented as they look forward to healthy living while in college.
Conclusion
The concept of healthy living is as crucial as studying is for college students. When the current generation embraces healthy eating habits, the promise of a perfect future generation is guaranteed. These are among the top food trends in college you need to know about.