Nutrition Course should be required in College Curricula

Our youth is being told to eat healthier and lose weight to avoid negative outcomes, but why? Do they truly understand why? Knowing that making poor food choices can result in being overweight or obese or that it may cause health problems is not enough. Young people need to understand the science behind nutrition and its role in maintaining health. Could your average college student answer the following questions? What is cholesterol?  How does it contribute to cardiovascular disease? Or better yet, what is cardiovascular disease? A college student might say, “Why do I need to know this?” They need to know this because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in our country, claiming one in three lives.

Laws have been passed in many states recently, including Massachusetts, which require schools to provide healthier food options. While this is significant progress, more needs to be done in terms of implementing nutrition education. Moreover, a course in nutrition needs to be a requirement in college curriculums. An introductory nutrition course provides a basic understanding of chronic diseases and how our lifestyle choices impact the development of these diseases. It educates students about various components of nutrition such as cholesterol, saturated fats, carbohydrates and the impact that they have on the body. Also, it teaches students how to interpret nutrition labels. Before making healthy food choices, young people must first understand what the food that they eat contains. Most importantly, a nutrition course presents healthy eating as a lifestyle. A course in nutrition goes a step further than presenting simply the cause and effect, but rather the science behind it all, which is vital to one’s understanding.

With a nation moving towards preventative health and wellness, this is one small step in the right direction. Our young people should be better educated so that they can make better choices and ultimately build a healthier generation.