Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2014
Capstone Advisor
Kay S. Bruening, Dept. Chair Associate Professor
Honors Reader
Jane Uzcategui, Instructor
Capstone Major
Nutrition Science and Dietetics
Capstone College
Sport and Human Dynamics
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Professional
Subject Categories
Comparative Nutrition | Human and Clinical Nutrition | Nutrition | Other Nutrition
Abstract
This project identifies the main issues seen in the dietary habits of college-aged young adults through a comprehensive literature review of studies on the topic. Roughly half of the research articles were obtained through Dr. Tanya Horacek, an associate professor in SU’s Department of Public Health, Food Studies, and Nutrition, who has done research on the college diet and factors that affect the college diet. Other studies were obtained via scholarly journals including, but not limited to the Journal of American College Health, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and the Journal of Exercise Physiology. Major problems in college aged students’ dietary habits included failing to meet nutritional recommendations for healthy adults, heavy alcohol consumption, and skewed nutritional beliefs. The collective methods and limitations of these studies are addressed.
As a creative component, the blog Books and Bruschetta: Cooking my way through college was created using wordpress.com as a formatting template in the fall of 2012. Recipes were researched for health, cost, and feasibility before 2-4 were chosen each week to be made and posted to the blog. Blogs included a short story or anecdote, a recipe (including a list of ingredients and detailed directions), a nutrient analysis for a serving of the dish, and pictures. During the spring of 2013, while abroad in Florence, Italy, posts included a story, a description of the food eaten in a day or on a trip, a nutrient analysis of the dish if possible, and pictures.
Books and Bruschetta is currently composed of one hundred fourteen posts and still growing. The blog has the potential to fill certain gaps found in the literature on the dietary habits of college-aged students. These include increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as increasing dietary variety with over seventy blog posts containing recipes and motivation for incorporating different fruits and vegetables into the diet. Books and Bruschetta: Cooking my way through college has the potential to be a critical tool in lowering the perceived barriers to healthy eating for college-aged students and changing the way they think about nutrition for the better.
Recommended Citation
Adamucci, Corie Lee, "Books and Bruschetta: An Investigation of the College Students’ Diet" (2014). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 784.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/784
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Included in
Comparative Nutrition Commons, Human and Clinical Nutrition Commons, Other Nutrition Commons
