Nutrition
Information on this page:
- Our mission
- Results of AU student nutritional survey and focus group
- Assessment of current nutritional problems that need addressing
- Links to subtopics of interest
Our Mission
To remove the barriers to healthy eating and increase self-efficacy through easy meal ideas, increased awareness of the dining options on campus, and a better sense of what a balanced diet looks like.
Why This Matters:
According to our survey results, an overwhelming majority of students who live on campus do not use the communal kitchen at all, indicating the need for healthy, already prepared meals on campus.
Additionally, in a focus group, many students said they felt confused by the new on-campus dining options.
How comfortable do off-campus students feel cooking for themselves?
When polling students who live off campus, we asked “How comfortable do you feel cooking for yourself?” There was an almost equal split between the three answers, as seen below. These results indicate that there is a need for resources on campus to teach students how to eat healthy meals once moving off campus. Additionally, more than half of the survey respondents indicated they have an unbalanced diet. This showcases a clear need for nutrition education and promotion of healthy dining on and off campus.
- “Do Not Feel Comfortable” 33%
- “Somewhat Comfortable” 37%
- “Completely Comfortable” 30%
Our survey also found that 63% of AU students polled do not believe they eat a balanced diet (ranking themselves less than 5 on a 1 to 10 scale). The “passive” third of students think that they do not eat a balanced or unbalanced diet. Only the remaining 4% ranked themselves above 5 on a scale from 1 to 10 indicating they think their diet is balanced. This strong skew in belief shows that students do not think they are eating healthy and there is room for behavior change. Thus, the goal of this nutrtional site is to provide information that can decrease the number of students who label their diet unbalanced.
