Special nutrition event planned

 by Katherine Bielski
 published on Thursday, March 27, 2008

In support of the American Dietetic Association's National Nutrition Month 2008, the Student Nutrition Council on the Polytechnic campus has created special promotional projects.

Stop by the table in the Student Union for nutrition games, healthy recipes, answers to all your nutrition questions, and to enter the free prize giveaway.

"We're trying to get the word out and raise awareness about how what you eat can really affect your life," said Nicole Horn, Student Nutrition Council president. "We want to promote more healthy lifestyles."

The theme of this year's National Nutrition Month is "Nutrition: It's A Matter of Fact."

Linda Vaughn, a Nutrition Department professor said she thinks "one of the reasons they chose that statement is that they are trying to encourage consumers to be better judges and to look more critically at the food they are eating."

"For the average college student, making smart food choices is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to support your health and effectively manage the stresses of school," Vaughn said.

"For a lot of college students who are away from home for the first time, it is very important for them to establish a routine of making smart choices, she said. "By smart choices, I mean eating real food, and by real food, I mean whole food that is as minimally processed as possible."

Katie Wilkinson, a business administration and geology senior, said she's a vegetarian, so she is already careful about what she eats, but she wishes the campus did a better job of making healthy foods and nutrition information more accessible.

"I think students would care more about eating healthy if it was more advertised," Wilkinson said.

Visit the American Dietetic Association's Web site, www.eatright.org, or the Student Nutrition Council's Web site, www.asunutrition.org, for more on National Nutrition Month and all your nutrition information needs.

Reach the reporter at: kbielski@asu.edu.