For students counting their calories while also counting their pennies, the quest for healthy and cheap living is about to get easier.
Campus restaurants are in the process of making their menus more user-friendly, said Lauren Royston, OU Housing and Food Services spokeswoman.
“Customers of chain restaurants operated by OU Food Services will see the additional calorie information incorporated into menus on campus, just as those details will be incorporated nationally,” Royston said by e-mail.
Recently passed federal health-care legislation requires restaurants with more than 20 locations to post the amount of calories in their menus’ items just as it would list the price of the meal.
Chelsi Welch, Oklahoma City University nutrition professor and former OU basketball player, said she has mixed feelings about the law because of the potential harm in counting calories.
“It’s not about the calories,” Welch said. “A calorie is a calorie; we don’t know if it’s a good calorie or a bad calorie or if it’s helping us or hurting us. We don’t know that by knowing how many calories we are putting in our body.”
Welch said she thinks the law could help raise awareness and help people know a little more about what they are eating, but that most people don’t even know what a calorie is.
However, Morgan Mayhall, elementary education sophomore, thinks the law is a good idea and that it will help her out.
“I think it would be a wise idea to put the calorie information next to the food items on menus,” Mayhall said. “For me, it would help me make healthy decisions on what I choose to eat. I think it would be more convenient for the calorie information to be on the menu because I usually ask the waiter for the information anyway.”
Kaitlin Bankston, English writing junior, said she will still eat the same things, regardless of the calorie information.
“I will still go to McDonald’s and order a double cheeseburger and not a salad or parfait,” Bankston said. “People want what they want; you can’t just change your taste buds. I go to places like McDonald’s or Taco Bell because I want the french fries and burritos not because I’m trying to diet.”
Welch said the best way to become healthier is to focus more on your overall diet.
I’m not talking about the on-and-off ‘I’m on a diet this weekend; I’m off a diet now.’ I’m just talking about what you eat and drink,” Welch said. “How do you feel when you eat? How do you feel after you drink too much alcohol? Heightening that focus on our diets is the best way to improve health.”
Welch also suggests paying attention to the nutrients in your food rather than the amount of calories.
Royston said Housing and Food is providing students with other ways to count their calories without just looking at a menu during meal time.
“Customers may currently review menu information at booklets in each campus restaurant, or they may learn about ingredients and nutritional information for on-campus options online with the Nutrition Calculator,” Royston said.
This online nutrition tool, available at food.ou.edu, assists patrons in planning healthier meals, calculating calories and reviewing nutritional content of items they’ve already eaten, Royston said.
She said Housing and Food updates the Nutrition Calculator as more items are added to on-campus dining menus.
The Wendy’s in the Oklahoma Memorial Union lists the calories of its meals and has done so for a few years, Royston said.
Students looking to make better choices can find a wide variety of free services on campus, said Maggie Pool, health promotion coordinator for OU Health Services.
“We have a dietician on staff (at Goddard Health Center), and really, if students just look, there are a lot of great free resources on campus,” Pool said. “Almost everywhere you look there’s something related to health, if it’s at a campus eatery, if it’s through the health center Goddard or through the Rec center, there’s a lot of services students can utilize if they want.”
OU Health Services will host a nutrition seminar at noon Thursday in the Goddard Health Center. Lunch will be provided.
To register, call 405-325-4611.
Students may set up an appointment with dietician Dr. Patti Landers by calling Goddard Health Center at 405-325-4441.
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keit6770 2 years, 1 month ago
“It’s not about the calories,” Welch said. “A calorie is a calorie; we don’t know if it’s a good calorie or a bad calorie or if it’s helping us or hurting us. We don’t know that by knowing how many calories we are putting in our body.”
Ummmm...actually it "IS" about the calories!! Eating too many calories, good OR bad, makes you fat. Our society needs to focus on lowering obesity rate overall, not worrying about all the other nutritional values- those which can be found online easily from the table via iphone (I know this because I, myself, am an avid calorie/nutritional value counter)...bottom line, whether its whole wheat or pure bleached flour, people need to be aware of how fat the sh*t that they eat makes them. Your missing the big picture. If posting the calories on the menus doesn't work then we will have to resort to wiring jaws shut. People can worry about the other nutritional value when they DON'T exceed a healthy weight. Post it on the menus...Its a glorious start!!!!!