Chapter 13: Nutrition through the college years
Eating behavior in college
1. Potential Reasons for Weight Gain:
a. Eating patterns
b. Food choices
c. Living environments
d. Stress levels
e. Lower level of activity
2. College students only gain about 3 to 4 pounds the first 3-9 months of college, this
weight is retained
3. Impacts of a poor diet
a. Health:
b. Behavior:
c. Relationships
d. Performance in college
4. Factors that contribute to food selection
a. Experiences with food (preferences, aversions, familiarity)
b. Social factors (cultural norms, social norms, social setting (where we eat),
social context (who we eat with))
c. Individual factors (perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, motivations, knowledge,
skills, values)
d. Environmental factors (cost, accessibility, convenience, advertising)
e. Psychological factors (mood, stress)
f. Biological factors (hunger, taste, pleasure)
5. How to make healthy selections in the dining hall
a. Fill your plate with fruits and vegetables
b. Take fruit for dessert
c. Try new foods, eat a wide variety of foods to meet nutrient needs
d. Salads and broth based soups
e. Balance high energy meals with nutrient dense sides
f. Prevent yourself from becoming over hungry
g. Use a smaller plate
h. Eat slowly
i. Think about portion control, sit further from food, eat with like minded
friends
Disordered Eating
1. Definitions
a. Eating disorder- Unhealthy and abnormal relationship with food and weight that
threatens health and interferes with many areas of a person’s life
b. Disordered eating- eating abnormally
c. Distorted body image- warped way of perceiving body size, shape and appearance
d. Binge eating disorder- a condition characterized by recurring episodes of eating
significantly more food in a short period than most people would eat under similar
circumstances, accompanied by feelings of lack and control.
, e. Anorexia nervosa- a Condition characterized by distorted body image and excessive
dieting that leads to severe weight loss with a pathological fear of becoming fat;
primarily affects adolescent girls and young women
f. Bulimia nervosa- a Condition characterized by frequent episodes of binge eating (at
least once per week), followed by purging behaviors to avoid weight gain
g. Orthorexia- Obsessed with healthy and righteous eating, along with exercise
patterns that affect the quality of life and relationships as well as their health.
Alcohol Intake
1. Definitions
a. Binge drinker- pattern of alcohol consumption that brings BAC to 0.08% or higher
corresponding to about 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for men and 4 or more
drinks for women, generally within about two hours
b. Heavy drinker- typically defined as consuming 15 or more standard alcohol drinks
per week for men and 8 or more per week for women
c. Moderate drinker- 1 drink a day for women and 1-2 drinks a day for men
d. Hypothermia- Alcohol lowers body temp, causing people to get cold easier
2. Alcohol serving sizes
a. Wine- 5oz (about 12% alcohol)
b. Beer- 12oz (about 5% alcohol)
c. Stout/Craft Beers (about 8-10% alcohol)
d. Liquor- 1.5oz (about 40% alcohol)
3. Process of alcohol metabolism
a. Absorbed in the bloodstream through diffusion, transported through the body’s
cells and tissues and dispersed throughout the water-containing portions of the body
b. 1/5 of alcohol consumed is absorbed through the stomach and the rest is absorbed in
the small intestine
c. Alcohol is metabolized by the liver in a 2 step process to form acetate.
i. The enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase converts alcohol to acetaldehyde (highly
reactive and toxic compound that can damage cellular components,
including DNA)
ii. Acetaldehyde is then converted to acetate by the enzyme acetaldehyde
dehydrogenase, and acetate then disperses to tissues throughout the body
where it is converted to acetyl-coenzyme A, which can be used as a source of
energy in the liver and elsewhere in the body
4. Relationship between alcohol intake and cancer development
a. Increased risks of some types of cancer
b. No safe level of alcohol consumption with regard to one’s risk of cancer
c. Light drinking associated with increased risk of cancers of the mouth, throat,
esophagus and breast
d. The more alcohol one drinks, the greater the risk
5. Guidelines for alcohol intake of men and women
a. 1 drink per day for women or 4 or more drinks = binge drinking, 8+ drinks a week
b. 1-2 drinks per day for men or 5 or more drinks = binge drinking, 15+ drinks a week
6. Differences between men and women in alcohol metabolism
Eating behavior in college
1. Potential Reasons for Weight Gain:
a. Eating patterns
b. Food choices
c. Living environments
d. Stress levels
e. Lower level of activity
2. College students only gain about 3 to 4 pounds the first 3-9 months of college, this
weight is retained
3. Impacts of a poor diet
a. Health:
b. Behavior:
c. Relationships
d. Performance in college
4. Factors that contribute to food selection
a. Experiences with food (preferences, aversions, familiarity)
b. Social factors (cultural norms, social norms, social setting (where we eat),
social context (who we eat with))
c. Individual factors (perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, motivations, knowledge,
skills, values)
d. Environmental factors (cost, accessibility, convenience, advertising)
e. Psychological factors (mood, stress)
f. Biological factors (hunger, taste, pleasure)
5. How to make healthy selections in the dining hall
a. Fill your plate with fruits and vegetables
b. Take fruit for dessert
c. Try new foods, eat a wide variety of foods to meet nutrient needs
d. Salads and broth based soups
e. Balance high energy meals with nutrient dense sides
f. Prevent yourself from becoming over hungry
g. Use a smaller plate
h. Eat slowly
i. Think about portion control, sit further from food, eat with like minded
friends
Disordered Eating
1. Definitions
a. Eating disorder- Unhealthy and abnormal relationship with food and weight that
threatens health and interferes with many areas of a person’s life
b. Disordered eating- eating abnormally
c. Distorted body image- warped way of perceiving body size, shape and appearance
d. Binge eating disorder- a condition characterized by recurring episodes of eating
significantly more food in a short period than most people would eat under similar
circumstances, accompanied by feelings of lack and control.
, e. Anorexia nervosa- a Condition characterized by distorted body image and excessive
dieting that leads to severe weight loss with a pathological fear of becoming fat;
primarily affects adolescent girls and young women
f. Bulimia nervosa- a Condition characterized by frequent episodes of binge eating (at
least once per week), followed by purging behaviors to avoid weight gain
g. Orthorexia- Obsessed with healthy and righteous eating, along with exercise
patterns that affect the quality of life and relationships as well as their health.
Alcohol Intake
1. Definitions
a. Binge drinker- pattern of alcohol consumption that brings BAC to 0.08% or higher
corresponding to about 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for men and 4 or more
drinks for women, generally within about two hours
b. Heavy drinker- typically defined as consuming 15 or more standard alcohol drinks
per week for men and 8 or more per week for women
c. Moderate drinker- 1 drink a day for women and 1-2 drinks a day for men
d. Hypothermia- Alcohol lowers body temp, causing people to get cold easier
2. Alcohol serving sizes
a. Wine- 5oz (about 12% alcohol)
b. Beer- 12oz (about 5% alcohol)
c. Stout/Craft Beers (about 8-10% alcohol)
d. Liquor- 1.5oz (about 40% alcohol)
3. Process of alcohol metabolism
a. Absorbed in the bloodstream through diffusion, transported through the body’s
cells and tissues and dispersed throughout the water-containing portions of the body
b. 1/5 of alcohol consumed is absorbed through the stomach and the rest is absorbed in
the small intestine
c. Alcohol is metabolized by the liver in a 2 step process to form acetate.
i. The enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase converts alcohol to acetaldehyde (highly
reactive and toxic compound that can damage cellular components,
including DNA)
ii. Acetaldehyde is then converted to acetate by the enzyme acetaldehyde
dehydrogenase, and acetate then disperses to tissues throughout the body
where it is converted to acetyl-coenzyme A, which can be used as a source of
energy in the liver and elsewhere in the body
4. Relationship between alcohol intake and cancer development
a. Increased risks of some types of cancer
b. No safe level of alcohol consumption with regard to one’s risk of cancer
c. Light drinking associated with increased risk of cancers of the mouth, throat,
esophagus and breast
d. The more alcohol one drinks, the greater the risk
5. Guidelines for alcohol intake of men and women
a. 1 drink per day for women or 4 or more drinks = binge drinking, 8+ drinks a week
b. 1-2 drinks per day for men or 5 or more drinks = binge drinking, 15+ drinks a week
6. Differences between men and women in alcohol metabolism
