Exercise!

http://www.apha.org/publications/tnh/archives/2008/Sept08/HealthyYou/HealthYou.htm

Exercise is a big key for any ones life but especially a college students life. When you go from class to class then hang out in your dorm room after, there is not to much exercise being done. Many colleges provide students with shuttles and buses to get from one class to anther. Before getting on that bus just think to yourself how you can help yourself out and stay healthy.

By exercising even just that little bit you will are helping yourself out. By exercising you are reducing the stress , keeping yourself from gaining the freshman 15, and getting energize which allows you to concentrate better in class.

In the article they state that if you want to find other ways to get your exercising in instead of walking to class you can try taking study breaks. During these breaks you can go to the gym with a buddy or alone. Also, join an intramural team or get involved, this way you get to meet new people while having a fun time exercising.

Major Mental Health Problems Facing College Students

In the article Depression, suicide are the major health issues facing college students, by Neil Schoenherr there is a stunning discovery about the mental issues going on in a college students life. In this article it goes over how 1 in 3 college students have depression; and , of these students 1 in 4 contemplate suicide. This large amount of students with depression is said to be because students now have a lot more stress placed on them than ever before.

Issues start even going into college where students already are having these signs of depression or other mental disorders. Student are now more than ever having to compete for their place in the work field, therefore, compete to get into the most prestigious colleges and universities and being at the top of their classes. This is a very large stress for freshman especially because they are not use to how a college grades and may have been a straight A student in high school but are now receiving lower grades. As you read the article you will find that they also believe that September 11th also has a large impact on the depression of students. This is said to be because the sense of security is lacking.

http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/4198.html

Eating Disorders and College Students

In a study about eating disorders I found that a surprising 40% of female college students have eating disorders. Or is it surprising? Reportedly 91% of female college students attempt to diet. Also, 5%-20% o men are found to have eating disorders in college. It is surprising how many college students feel as though they have weight problems and need to lose weight.

Although eating disorders are present in people of all ages, it is said that the majority of people who develop a eating disorder do so in their college years. The common eating disorders for college students are anorexia, bulimia , and binge-eating.

http://www.waldenbehavioralcare.com/eating_disorders_among_college_students.asp

Signs to look for with Anorexia are:

1. An intense drive for thinness


2. Avoiding situations where food is involved


3. Developing rituals around preparing food


4. Pronounced emotional changes, such as irritability , depression and anxiety

Signs of Bulimia:

1. The frequent smell of vomit


2. Frequent trips to the bathroom after meals


3. excessive use of diuretics


4. Going to the kitchen frequently when everyone is sleeping.

Signs of Binge-Eating:

1. Eating in secret


2. "Grazing" continuously without feeling satiated


3. Eating when stressed or when feeling uncertain how to cope

If you see these signs with any person you may be the one to speak up and help them. Eating disorders are a growing problem among college students which needs direct attention. There are now places out there for people to go; there are people to talk to , family members can also help. Also, now instead of staying in a hospital there are rehab centers which are trained in helping people with eating disorders recover. Below is just one of many different rehabs which are used to help people of any age recover

http://www.avalon-eatingdisorders.com/

Tired? Irritable? Sick? STRESSED?

Before you know it, the end of the semester is coming and finals are coming up. So many college students face stress everyday. The amount of work, number of classes, and just living away from home can cause a great amount of stress on any person. I know at school when I am stressed out I can make myself feel sick and am always tired. There are many different mental attributes that come with stress.

On the following link you can find out what stress can do to a person from making them fatigue, to causing illnesses to even increasing the possibilities of heart attacks.
http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/stress/STR_affect.html

Although it is easy to become stressed and there are dangers of being overly stressed there are also a bunch of different ways to deal with stress whether it is exercising, drinking, smoking, sleeping, or just crying. However, learning the healthy ways to deal with stress can make school a lot easier to complete.


http://collegelife.about.com/od/healthwellness/ht/Stress.htm

On this website I found the top 10 healthy ways to deal with stress:
1.) Don't stress about being stressed
2.)Get some sleep
3.) Get some food
4.) Get some exercise
5.) Get some quiet time
6.)Get some social time
7.) Get some fun time
8.) Get some distance
9.) Get some help
10.) Get some perspective

I find that these are great ways to help deal with stress because it helps you emotionally and physically fix the problems a person may find difficult when in a stressful situation.

Colleges Promoting Smoking?

When going around campus I'm sure everyone has seen someone smoking. To me it feels like the majority of people at this college smoke. I feel that by the time you're in college everyone knows that there are THOUSANDS of chemicals in cigarettes; however, they continue to smoke. There are some who say it is difficult to quit smoking, but 27% of college smokers start during their college years. Is it that college students don't understand the consequences? Or is it that they just don't care?

When being off on your own you try different types of things. Smoking is one thing that many college students test out whether its cigars, cigarettes , illegal drugs, or the new cigarettes I see people smoking, blacks. As many people may know cigarettes are a stress reliever. So if you start smoking to reduce the stress from school, before you know it you may become addicted even if you didn't mean to. Smoking is very much addictive due to the amount of chemicals found in them.

http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/pressreleases/2001/harvard-reports-on-college.html

"The college years are a time of transition in smoking behavior of young people because
many are experimenting with tobacco, others are starting to smoke regularly, and still others are trying to quit," said Nancy Rigotti, MD, Director of Tobacco Research and Treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School.

In a recent study at Harvard University, they found that 40% of students who are placed in smoke free living do not try smoking. However, only 27% of colleges do not provide students with smoke free dormitories even if they have a smoke free policy in public areas. Also, in this study they found that 40% of colleges do not provide students with the opportunity to quit smoking by providing them with programs to help. In the study they found that since college aged are the most targeted by tobacco companies , so colleges should help to provide more opportunities to help students quit.

The following links I found help understand the different affects on tobacco and what people are being told verses the reality of the drug.

http://www.ttac.org/enews/mailer10-03/college-students.pdf
http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.htm
http://www.thetruth.com/

Getting Enough Sleep?

I find myself tired all the time at college and I know majority of students feel the same way. It is like we are back in elementary school were naps are key to each day. Most students find themselves going to bed late and waking up early whether doing homework or not. I find that no matter how much or how little sleep I get I am exhausted once the afternoon hits.

http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/general_health/sleep.htm

When researching the article listed above I found that so many students feel as though they are not getting enough sleep. Many of these reasons are due to the life style which we live at school. Eating late night meals or snacks, stress, a lot of last minute homework, and those mid day "power naps" are all contributors which make us have trouble sleeping and then exhausted the next day.

College students should be getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night. With out 8 hours of sleep many different factors can be affected including your immune system, being able to pay attention in class, and can affect your mental health. Ways in which you can fix your sleeping problems are by relaxing, not having caffeine at night time, exercise, and sleeping and waking up at the same time everyday.

College Students Getting Sick

When living on campus it seems that once one person gets sick everyone gets sick. It spreads through the dorms like wild fire. Even though many students try their best to stay healthy, you can't always avoid it. At college there are many times where it feels as though everyone is sick. I know when I lived in the dorms I found that if one person in my hall was coming down with a cold, slowly everyone would start feeling a little under the weather.

There is no way to completely avoid becoming sick. However, there are steps in which students should use in order to stay as healthy as they can. When entering college make sure you get all your vaccines. By getting your vaccines it prevents from getting really sick at school and just leaves you to fight off the colds. Also, get the flu shot. Many people think that its a pain because you have to get one every year; yet, it can help in a great way.

Some steps you could use to stay healthy are:
-Wash your hands a lot
-Get enough sleep
-Eat as healthy as you can

http://coldflu.about.com/od/prevention/tp/Health-in-College.htm
On this website you will find the most common steps which college students should take in order to keep healthy to their best abilities.

On college campuses there is always Health Services so if you have any questions on ways to stay healthy you can always go there for a consultation.

Not Everyone is Doing It

Colleges today for parents at least are known for a free-for - all with guys and girls being away from home and able to make their own choices. Many people believe that in college everyone is having sex with any and everyone. This is not necessarily the case because many students still have the since that they will wait until " love" or for marriage.

Some students may take advantage of the freedom they now have but this shouldn't reflect on all the students because not everyone is sexually active. But mostly, the people who are sexually active don't necessarily go around sleeping with everyone they meet.

Students should be educated on the type of things that they are being exposed to if they are having sex and should keep in mind that if you are sexually active at college that this may be your first time but not your partners first time.

http://www.rainn.org/news-room/sexual-assault-news/2008-back-to-school-tips?gclid=CM-BlL-ejpYCFRGHQAodcSimEA

In this website you will learn that not all sexual encounters in college are mutual. Rainn provides information on what to do if this ever happens to you.

If you find yourself questioning any partner you have had or want more information you can always turn to the college health services and and get brochures or talk to the nurses.

The Freshman 15

Most people when joining college are worried about the " Freshman 15". Gaining weight in college is something that everyone is scared for because now they don't have their parents there telling them what they can and can not eat. I believe that this is mostly due to the fact that schools may not have the money to pay for nice food which will help students eat as healthy as they do at home. Also, up at school the food is usually served in a buffet style which allows students to fill their trays and eat as much as they want. Also, alot of schools now have 24 hour dinning commons which lets student go for that midnight snack which they might not have gone for if the dinning common wasn't open.

Colleges and University's outside of the dinning commons have food places which students can get food at. Some Colleges and University's have places like burger king or taco bell on campus which allows student access to these fating foods everyday where if it wasn't on campus they may not have access to it.

I found that if students are educated on how to stay healthy and maintain their weight at school they might realize some unhealthy habits and make healthier choices.

On the following sites it talks about what kind of food you should be getting everyday and what you should avoid. Also in the fit day link you can enter the different type of food you eat and the activities which you do so it is easier to monitor yourself and keep healthy.

http://www.mypyramid.gov/?gclid=CJrQ_bWcjpYCFRfAQAodbQXjEw

http://www.fitday.com/

College Students vs. Alcohol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwkL0tyeee4&NR=1

Sometimes college students may take the freedom of being away from home too hard and too fast. In this blog, I will be discussing the decision of drinking which college student face each day living on campus and how this can affect your health. Not all college students drink. Actually on average 30% of college students binge drink. In this blog I am educating those who drink moderately on what alcohol does to your body. But mostly I will be addressing the population of college students who do binge drink. I'm not saying don't ever drink and I'm not saying to go crack open a beer right now, I am just hoping to educate people on how to be responsible with alcohol and what happens when you're not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_syGCNaycMU

The major thing about alcohol that personally bothers me the most is people who go out and drink and drive. 2.1 million students were caught driving under the influence so far this year. If you have one or more drinks you should not be on the road. I know it sounds tedious and stupid but even that little bit does impair your judgement. I have heard of so many people who go out on Tuesday nights and then drive themselves and others home after being at a bar. I feel if you don't care about yourself or your friends enough to designate a driver or to call a cab at least care for the innocent people who you are putting in harms way and possibly killing by driving under the influence.

I found that the majority of people who do drink on campus go to parties and binge drink (drink to get drunk). By doing this they are completely destroying their GI system. When drinking alcohol in any amount it has to go through the stomach. In the stomach alot of the alcohol is absorbed however it may be getting absorbed instead of the vitamins that you need . If you take medicine and decide to drink alcohol, it could lead to serve irritation which may lead to stomach ulcers and bleeding.

Drinking red wine with one 8-ounce glass a day can help prevent heart attacks. However, many other drinks will affect the heart and most people who drink a lot are found to have high blood pressure. With binge drinking in college students I found that stroke and heart attacks are the disease they are most prone to with their hearts.

The brain can be attacked by alcohol by blocking the neurotransmitters. Also the liver is the main organ which is attacked by alcohol because it filters the blood which has the alcohol in it. Each year 25,000 Americans die from liver disease and about 70% of those deaths are caused from drinking alcohol.

- 31 percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the past 12 months.

I hear a lot of people including some of my friends say " I'm a college student so I am not an alcoholic". If you are drinking so much that you are dependent on it or if you feel as if you need to drink just because its the weekend. You should recognize these signs and take into account what road you are heading down.

http://www.wsc.ma.edu/Current_Students/Student_Handbook/Student_Life_Policies/The_Federal_Drug_Free_Schools_and_Communities_Act.html?Title=Westfield%20State%20College

This link talks about the drinking eules of Westfield State College. Many of these rules are the same as the Massachusetts Law.

Did you know:

- A 12-ounce beer = 1 shot of 80-proof alcohol regardless if it is in a mixed drink or not

= 5 ounce glass of wine

- A shot of 80-proof alcohol is = to 100 calories ( think of how many other things you could have instead)

- An average 12-ounce beer has about 110 calories

- One in three 18-24 year olds are admitted to the emergency room are there because they are intoxicated

-It takes 3 hours to eliminate just 2 average drinks

-The more tolerance you gain from alcohol the more serious the GI problems you are obtaining.

http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/CollegeStudents/

I've been in the situation and I'm sure others have too where you don't want to drink but anyone and everyone keeps asking you why your not drinking. The people who are drunk may not comprehend that just because you're not drinking doesn't mean you're an outcast.

1.) Drink juice or soda out of a cup, no one will ever know its not alcohol

2.) Avoid situations where alcohol is present

3.) Say you just finished a drink and yo're taking a little bit of a break

Again, I am not here to tell you to drink or not to drink. I am just educating you on what the consequences are if you do decide to drink and why college students are at risk.