English
Chrystal Slowley
March 11, 2015
Arg. Essay Draft I.
College Students and Poor Nutrition
Many students, who are enrolled in City University of New York colleges, aren’t always given the benefit of quick, inexpensive, healthy food options. Fast food restaurants are known to ensure quick quality food but rarely advertise their high fat content. Unlike students on state university campuses, CUNY students typically make their own food options outside of school, and whilst surrounded by fast food restaurants, they’re not given many good choices. These food choices may negatively affect the CUNY student’s college career and their overall future food making decisions.
Fast food restaurants are widely dispersed throughout cities across the United States of America. In New York alone, there are over 17,000 fast food restaurants which are constantly employed, making billions of dollars, and are even in the making. Surrounding these popular restaurants, which are literally on every corner, are businesses and schools where paying customers can always be found. For those students who can afford certain healthy food options, like cooking a balanced meal at home, or stopping at a local organic food store, getting their proper nutrition shouldn’t be a hassle; but that’s not always the case. Whilst paying for yearly tuition, CUNY college students are responsible for their own transportation, which can cost over one thousand dollars annually, and then have to think about healthy food options. With fast food restaurants, like McDonalds who have dollar menus, it’s more convenient for them to make a bad food choice but one that will keep a little change in their pockets and stomachs full.
The convenience of fast food can make nutrition an afterthought for CUNY students. A well balanced plate would consist of twenty five percent starch, twenty five percent of protein, and fifty percent of vegetables. If you look at a McDonald’s menu, a Big Mac is about 540 calories which is a quarter of the recommended calorie intake. Of course there are other options such as salads and apple slices, which carry fewer calories, but wouldn’t constitute for the recommended portions of protein and starch needed in a balanced diet. Overall, it’s habituation poor nutrition.
