2024_0307_1407

This podcast discusses the college student's reliance on fast food, the stability of meal plans, and the age range of fast food consumption. Fast food is convenient and cheap, making it appealing to younger people who are targeted through social media advertising. College students consume fast food 70% more often than non-college attending adults. They also spend $11 billion on snacks and fast food annually. High consumption of fast food increases the risk of heart disease and hinders academic performance. Tips for healthy and cheap eating include shopping on the perimeter of stores, buying canned and frozen foods, and planning meals. Meal plans in colleges are expensive and often don't last the whole year, leading students to rely on fast food. Solutions include keeping it cheap, buying bulk whole foods, and looking for sales. Home-cooked meals can be made with friends to save money and maintain a healthy diet. Food insecure students can find support through national resources like SN Hello, I'm Hayden Baer, this is Life as a College Student informative podcast where we are talking about the college student's diet, their reliance on fast food, the stability of meal plans, the age range of fast food consumption, and ultimately how to combat it with tips and tricks. Here I have... I'm Avery Jane. And I'm Gretel Henderson. ...to help guide me on this topic. I have a question for you guys. Have you ever been mindlessly on your phone and you get hit with a Burger King ad and now your mouth is watering and you're questioning ordering your comfort meal from DoorDash? If so, you're not alone. Our first topic looks into the demographics of fast food consumption, and you'll be shocked to look at this data. To understand why fast food is so prominent, let's think about who's actually consuming fast food the most. According to the CDC, the percentage of adults who consume fast food decreases with age. At ages 20 to 39, it's 44.9%. At ages 40 to 59, it's 37.7%. And at ages 40 to 59, it's 24.1%. The CDC also reported that from 2013 through 2016, 36.6% of adults consumed fast food on a given day. So why is this, and what makes fast food so appealing to younger people? Fast food is convenient. For a college student, it's on the go and very accessible. And not only is it convenient, but fast food meals are generally cheap. Adults and young adults are more likely to see promotional material through social media like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Social media is so effective for advertising, and typically younger adults use social media, making them a target for fast food advertising. College students are a huge consumer, not only when it comes to fast food, but also other unhealthy diets like snacks and non-nutritional grocery products. Now let's look at the fast food consumption rate specifically for college students. According to a study sourced from uncg.edu, college students ate fast food 70% more often than non-college attending adults within the same community. I wonder, do you guys line up with this statistic? Do you feel that your college lifestyle leads you to consume more fast food? Let's start with our co-hosts Hayden and Avery. What do you guys think? I would agree. Within the past year before attending college, I made a huge change in my diet. I cut out fast food, restaurants, unhealthy snacks, and started looking into the nutrition in my diet. I've done a great job, but when I started attending college, it became challenging. Finding energy to cook and also fighting the urge to stop by Wendy's on the way home before I go do my homework became really challenging. How about you, Hayden? I think that another possibility for why college students make up such a big statistic is because most young adults probably don't have much savings or disposable income. Make sure you guys leave your opinion on our Instagram, at College Student Podcast. What's your guys' favorite snacks? Mine is chocolate chip cookies. I personally like apples, red or green, it doesn't matter. I love chips, personally. Now we all love snacks, our favorite snacks, but did you know a study done by dad.org stated college students spend around $11 billion on snacks and fast food a year? This is a shocking demographic that is typically tight on money and looking for fruitful alternatives. $11 billion is an insane amount of money, plus this food is unhealthy and not nutritious. This large consumption is having an effect on consumers' overall health. Medical news today suggests that high consumption of fast food will, one, increase risk of heart disease. The FDA suggested a diet high in salt increases a person's blood sugar, making a person more prone to heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, or heart disease long term, which is scary because heart disease is the leading cause of death in America. Number two is intake of fast food is also proven to hinder the academic performance of students. Florida Gulf Coast University quotes, students who had fast food at least seven times in the last week reported significantly lower GPAs than students who had eaten fast food less than four times or not at all. In a market full of junk food, it's hard to navigate healthy foods and especially on a tight budget, so we researched some tips on how to be healthy and cheap. While grocery shopping, stay on the perimeter of the stores because it tends to have whole foods, aka more nutritious foods. When you're on a tight budget, shopping for canned and frozen foods can be cheaper than fresh produce. And according to the CDC, there is minimal health difference in these items. Planning your meals throughout the week can save you stress and money. Planning meals with similar ingredients can save you money on shopping along with forcing you to plan each meal for the day. While cooking at home, there are some tips and tricks to make your pennies stretch to the dollar. For making meals, myplate.gov suggests keep your meals simple. Trying simple things at first keeps your process realistic and positive. It's also cheaper. Number two, stretch out your food. This means use leftover ingredients or pieces of a meal to make a different meal, like adding leftover rice to soup or try adding beans to a casserole you're making. Get creative and have fun. Number three is doubling recipes. Doubling recipes ensures you have food for the next couple of days and when you get busy, you can have dinner leftovers instead of ordering takeout. Those are some great tips and tricks for shopping, but many college students, as of those who are in dorms and don't have access to full kitchens, are required or choose to be on meal plans. So how does this affect individuals' diets? Moving on to our next topic, surrounding meal plans in colleges. Meal plans are typically paid for in full at the beginning of the year and are expected to last students throughout the whole year. This causes a tight food situation for college students. While many college students are required to be on meal plans, how efficient are these resources for a full year? Many college students report running out of meal plans by the end of the year. Although nutritiously better than other options, they are extremely pricey. According to CoveringPoverty.gov, students spend an average of $18.25 a day on meal plans. With this price comparison, it's no wonder that students rely on the cheaper $8.75 meals from fast food. Meal plans are a great option but aren't reliable for the whole year and are expensive, leaving college students to shop for cheaper alternatives, typically fast food and unhealthy snacks. Here are some solutions and tips to shopping outside of a meal plan. Number one, keep it cheap. Meal plans are expensive and shopping outside of them is only adding to that cost. Number two, going for bulk whole foods like eggs, milk, rice, pasta, oats, etc. These are not only nutritious but are great staples for other meals. Number three, checking out for sips. To be on the hunt for good sales, always be on the hunt for good sales. Saving money adds up. Number three, checking for sales. Always be on the hunt for good sales. Saving money adds up. Also, never underestimate the clearance rack. You can stock up on some great finds there. And I'm sorry if it's close to your lunchtime but I'm wondering what's your guys' favorite home cooked meal? Let's start with our co-host. My favorite home cooked meal is either yumbles or enchiladas. I haven't had a good home cooked meal in a while so I'm a bit unsure about that one. As many college students can relate to. How about you guys? Make sure to let us know at our Instagram at collegestudentpodcast. A solution for making home cooked meals is getting some of your friends together for a study slash dinner night. Pitching in some money and going to the store and planning a meal, this makes dinner financially cheaper and also helps you and your friends maintain a healthy diet while having fun and also being productive. A closing question for our audience. Are you or have you ever been on a meal plan? If so, do you think it is slash was a good food source for the whole year? Let us know on our Instagram at collegestudentpodcast. Some important takeaway tips from our podcast is get together with friends, pitch in money, and have a dinner night. Be conscious of the effect food is having on your health and be aware that often college students are targeted for fast food advertising. This is something to be aware of, especially on social media. If you are struggling to meet food requirements and are food insecure, there are national resources that can support you. Visiting the USDA website, you can access information on SNAP benefits and food distribution services, including how to apply and the requirements to get accepted. That about wraps up our topic for today on life as a college student. Join us on our next podcast episode discussing transportation for college students. Make sure to leave any useful tips for saving money on food in our comments for our listeners on our Instagram page. Thank you so much for tuning in.