Back to School!

Can you hear the school bells ring? Well here in North Carolina, public schools are back in session. More inconveniently, college students have returned to the multitude of universities and colleges in this area. Since I work at one of these universities, I am already missing the days of quiet and empty hallways in my building.

For many college freshmen, they not only face the challenge of college-level calculus, lecture halls, and dealing with a roommate, but also face the feared “FRESHMAN FIFTEEN.” I’m pretty sure I was a victim of the freshman 15 (I never weighed myself freshman year so I don’t really know), though by the end of college I came out under par.

So why is gaining weight so common among college students?

· Dining Halls: Buffet-style eating is never good for anyone

· Liquid Calories: Between sugared sodas, energy drinks, and frou-frou coffee drinks to stay awake to study and increased alcohol consumption – all of these pack a lot of caloric punch

· Inconsistent and Inadequate Sleep: late nights on weekends, early morning bio, sleeping until noon – many college students make the mistake of sleeping whenever and wherever they can (I used to take naps in the big chairs in the student center), usually not amounting to 5-8 hours every night.

· Late Night Binge Eating: Pizza. The forever friend of late night study groups.

· Food Kept in the Dorm Room: Easy Mac. Need I say more?

· Swapping Fitness for Physics: Quiz time! What’s more important to a college student – studying, sleeping, eating, socializing, or working out? Sorry “working out,” you’ve been voted off the island.

Needless to say it’s a combination of factors that leads to weight-gain, the primary culprit being poor eating behaviors. But awareness and preparation can aid college students in the battle with the scale. Here’s how:

· Most Dining Halls now post calorie information for each dish. So go ahead and count your calories.

· Use a plate format. Okay so this method may have been designed for people with diabetes, but it also helps the average person eat a balance diet. Check it out!

· If you must drink soda, opt for diet sodas. Most coffee shops now offer sugar free and low-fat versions of their frou-frou drinks, too.

· I realize college students are going to drink regardless of anti-drinking campaigns, but try to stick to 0-4 drinks per day. Not only does this keep away from what is considered “binge drinking”, but you’ll limit your calories from alcohol too.

· Set a bedtime for yourself (especially on school nights) and strive for 8 hours of sleep per day. Easier said than done, I know.

· If you’re participating in a late night study group or pulling an all-nighter, chew sugar-free gum. Studies have shown this actually can help! If you do get the munchies, buy the single serving or 100 calorie bags of chips or cookies.

· Keep healthy snacks in your dorm room like baby carrot sticks, whole grain granola bars, nuts, and dried fruit.

· Most gyms at universities and colleges are free or low-cost to students, so take advantage of it!

· Not fond of weights or machines? Check out the fitness class schedule or join an intramural sports team.

· Walk or bike instead of taking the bus.

· Get credit for physical fitness by taking a class. Many universities offer classes for credit like running, tennis, and even ballroom dancing.

No Problem, Mon!

I just got back from a vacation to Jamaica – go ahead, be jealous.

While there, I learned that Jamaica was recently rated the 3^rd happiest nation in the world by the New Economics Foundation. I wondered about the source of the Jamaican happiness and what benefit happiness has for their country. Of course, being an American and a Health Educator I think in terms of economics and health status. But are those things really related to happiness?

Side Note: You may be asking yourself why I care about happiness as a health educator. The simple answer: mental health is part of public health!

The famous rapper, Notorious B.I.G. once penned a song called “Mo Money Mo Problems” (More money, more problems). And in fact, the same “happiness report” from New Economics Foundation found that the richer, more developed countries (e.g. USA and UK) tended to have lower scores on the Happy Planet Index. So perhaps there’s a negative relationship between money and happiness such that as money increases, happiness decreases?

Or perhaps this report is completely bogus since happiness is culturally defined? How do you control for cultures in which optimism and happy-go-luckiness are cultural norms?

On the health side of things, how do you treat diseases in a country where the motto is “No Problem!”? Is ignorance truly bliss?

On the flip side, the American health care system has created a culture of practicality and bleak outlooks, leading us to think about only about death and not about life.

Perhaps we should adapt an attitude of a “Jamerican,” somewhere between carefree and stark practicality. Perhaps if we take care of our mental health first, everything else will fall into place.

HIV: The Elephant in the Room

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, aka HIV, is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). HIV/AIDS lives up to its namesake – causing a deficiency (aka lack or absence) of the immune system. This means the body is unable to fight off infections, from strep throat to cancer.

As of 2007, there were 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. In the United States along, it’s estimated that there are 1.2 million adults and children living with HIV/AIDS (World Health Organization, 2008 http://www.who.int). About 80% of people living with HIV/AIDS in the US contracted the virus through high-risk sexual contact (e.g. unprotected sex), around 13% through injection drug use (e.g. needle/paraphernalia sharing), and the remainder through a combination of both or other means (CDC, 2006 http://www.cdc.gov).

I wanted to comment on two recent HIV-related news stories, one I posted last week. The United States House of Representatives voted to lift the ban on using taxpayer dollars to fund needle exchange programs. Needle exchange programs work to prevent the spread of HIV by allowing IV drug users to exchange used needles for clean ones. However, there are many opponents to such programs because they believe that by allowing drug users to exchange their needles that we are encouraging them to continue using drugs. I wonder if these are the same people who believe we shouldn’t hand out condoms in schools because it will promote pre-marital sex. My argument is we (and by “we” I mean people who support comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention) are not promoting copious drug use, we’re promoting SAFE drug use. Similarly, we’re not telling teenagers “Here’s a condom, now go have lots of sex,” we’re teaching them to have SAFE sex. HIV/AIDS is a global problem that requires multi-point and multi-method intervention. Why not “nip it in the bud” at the points of transmission in addition to antiretroviral therapy (medicinal treatment for HIV/AIDS) after diagnosis. Additionally, thousands upon thousands of people around the world are living with HIV but don’t know they have it. Antiretroviral therapy is only good if a person is diagnosed. We need to take measures to prevent transmission of HIV, particularly HIV that is unknown.

In other HIV news, researchers have identified a new strain of HIV that is derived from gorillas. Check out the article here. What are the implications of this? HIV is ever-changing. Microbiologically, we need to be aware of the different variants that may emerge in the next few years. Anthropologically, the face of HIV/AIDS has changed and will continue to change. It is not longer a virus that affects vagrants, druggies, prostitutes, and homosexual men. It affects EVERYONE.