Knowledge of Nutrition by Courtney

Knowledge of Nutrition by Courtney - June 2018 Scholarship Essay

Class registration week begins and campus is instantly divided into two groups: those thrilled with the possibility of exciting new courses and those bored by the idea of more hours in a classroom. As always, I find myself wholly and enthusiastically in the first camp. I would love to persuade those begrudging students of the benefits of college coursework, but I resign to be content with my own joy in planning for the semester to come.

I have always loved school. Whether I was in algebra, physics, shop, journalism, or consumer science, I could find joy and purpose in the classroom. In college, I developed an even deeper appreciation for learning and regularly filled up my schedule with plenty of courses. Though a biology major on paper, I did not limit my studies to the sciences but instead expanded my horizons through all sorts of elective classes. I wanted to get the most out of my college education, so I studied agriculture, art, nutrition, Spanish, and psychology on the side. I loved these courses and discovered new knowledge that I would have completely missed if I had stuck to the required classes. Thinking back to all those students who dreaded registration week, I wonder about all that they were missing out on and which of my elective courses they would have enjoyed. Surely many of them would encounter Spanish speakers and a number of them would benefit from coursework in agriculture, but none of the courses could be quite as useful or universally applicable as Human Nutrition.

Nutrition is an area of life that impacts every person on Earth, regardless of gender, orientation, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Everyone has to eat and the quantity and quality of the food we consume affects nearly every aspect of our lives. Not everyone has the means to access proper nutrition, but I believe every human being ought to know what proper nutrition is. Knowing the truth about what we eat and the complexities of human nutrition is crucial to healthy living and should be a required aspect of any college curriculum.

Far beyond the basics of “eating fruits and vegetables,” Human Nutrition is a class that debunks myths about dieting and calories, explains eating disorders, and even requires students to keep a food journal for several days. All of these requirements could be of immense value to college students in any major. First, in the world we live in, fad diets abound and there are countless misconceptions about fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. College students, who are traditionally transitioning from the home to a setting where they will make their own nutritional decisions, desperately need to be educated in this area. Furthermore, the combination of misconceptions about food and pressure to look a certain way has paved the way to an epidemic of eating disorders in the United States. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, over 30 million people in the U.S. suffer from an eating disorder. College students account for a significant portion of this statistic and teaching them about the dangers of these disorders is a critical step in combating them. Lastly, I believe we are often largely unaware of just what we are putting into our bodies. Few consumers take the time to read the mile-long ingredient lists on labels and end up with chemicals and calories in their body they never planned for. Tasking students with tracking their food and beverage intake forces them to confront any unhealthy trends in their diet. It may not permanently change a student’s habits, but it certainly can cause him or her to think twice before consuming detrimental foods.

I certainly will never convince every college student to love class registration week like I did, and I probably will not have the opportunity to share my passion for healthy living with the masses. But I do hope that I can convince colleges and universities to integrate a Human Nutrition class into their required curriculum. The results of such an addition would be vast and weighty. Imagine a world where every young person understood the impact of sugar on the body, where consumers checked labels before buying products, or where students were trained to recognize the signs of an eating disorder. What if students, through education, were taught to rely on the facts of nutritional science rather than the ever-changing advice of the media? And what if these students were empowered not only to better their own lives but also those around them? These dreams and “what ifs” could become reality if Human Nutrition became a required course on college campuses. I cannot imagine that any other elective class could have such a profound impact on the health and success of our nation.