Kyle

Meet Kyle Buckingham. An alumni of Blair High School, Kyle will be a returning sophomore to UNL. Prior to his college years, Kyle was a lean, tall teenager. He lifted seriously everyday, and was a star basketball player. Kyle Buckingham was the picture of health.

One look at the high-school Kyle immediately tells you that he is incredibly fit. His tall body type seeming to have not an ounce of fat on it. The liveliness in his boyish, round eyes resembles someone of good health and a healthy lifestyle. Energetic and easy-going, high-school Kyle has all the characteristics of a happy, healthy person. Entering college, Kyle felt on top of the world. But by second semester of his freshman year at UNL, Kyle had gained twenty pounds.

Not quite a year later, the physical change is minor. His arms slightly less toned, shirt gripping his midsection a bit tighter. Still, when he reveals the extent of his weight gain, it comes as a shock. The twenty pounds he put on while away at school, is a substantial amount, but with a height of 6’4”, most of the change can only be seen in his sluggish mannerisms as compared to his previous happy-go-lucky attitude.

College students have long had the idea of gaining the “freshman fifteen” in the back of their minds. Most colleges, specifically the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, create numerous programs and facilities  and opportunities to help prevent the scale from going up. In fact, the majority of its students walk to and from their classes each day. So the question is, how exactly are college students putting on the extra weight?

A college student’s time can be their most valuable asset. Spaced out between classes, school work, maintaining a job, and extracurriculars, most college students don’t have the time to eat a healthy meal or exercise regularly. Kyle found these issues to be true while he stayed on campus. His old habit of lifting and exercising daily became nearly impossible to uphold.

Living on a strict budget can limit a person’s access to healthy choices as well. Kyle, like the majority of college undergrads, was a frequent customer of his dorm cafeteria. Although UNL’s cafeterias do offer a number of healthy food options, they also have their fair share of fatty foods. Another temptation facing the students is the fact that it is an all you can eat buffet. It becomes fairly easy to forget about portions and calories.

Food in the dorm is previously paid for, and makes it convenient to eat and go without the hassle of preparing it. This same problem is reflected in the massive amount of fast food advertising around campus.

Pizza corporations, for UNL it is Lil’ Caesars and Papa John’s, locate themselves just minutes away from dorms and offer delivery services to increase sales. When your time is limited and fast, greasy food is just around the corner, convenience may take the place of nutrition.

high-school Kyle enjoyed the ability to eat practically anything without the worry of weight gain, but college Kyle didn’t have the same leisure. Between eating pizza and burgers nearly everyday, the weight slowly started growing on him and with the stress of college, he barely noticed how drastically his body had changed. He became aware of his declining health when his father said he saw his “gut jiggle” over summer break; it was time to change, he decided.

At UNL, they offer many choices to help their students remain fit. “Our recreational center controls the Cook Pavilion, Sapp Recreational Center, Mabel Lee Hall, the Coliseum, and all of the outdoor tennis and basketball courts,” the Recreational Center Director, Tony Hernbloom said. “We also have aquatic classes and the rec center funds trips for hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, and so on. Sport clubs are another big, rec-funded activity here on campus. Students who maybe played a sport in high school that would like to continue on in it, but not at the collegiate level, can get groups of people together and form a ‘club’. These teams are non-varsity, but the clubs have the opportunity to compete nationally each year”.

The recreational center offers bike rentals, gym facilities and sport courts, fitness classes, and a variety of other options. For students, it costs $10-$15 to rent a bike for a day, depending on which speed you choose. “Students tuition covers the membership fee to the gym, which averages out to about $30 dollars a month,” Hernbloom said. A registered dietitian is also available on site to counsel about health and run programs/presentations to share with all of the 25,000+ students of UNL.”About once a month or so, the dietician tries to organize a presentation for the students in the dorm lobbies,” Said Hernbloom. Other places on campus have chipped in to the health movement as well. Better-choice companies like Red Mango, Juice Stop, and Panera give students the same convenience as a fast food joint, but with real health benefits. To compare the real difference between these companies and fast food chains, here are some typical examples from each facility: Vanilla ice-cream- Wendy’s (280 calories), Red Mango (190 calories); Turkey sandwich- Arby’s (700 calories), Panera (420 calories). By making small pushes towards healthier lifestyles, the faculty of UNL hopes to teach their students how to maintain a comfortable weight.

Kyle had to relearn how to be healthy. He started eating sandwiches as opposed to pizza and put down the Xbox controller so he would have more time for the gym. Slowly but surely, the weight started disappearing, and come fall of the new school year, he had succeeded. Now Kyle is back to his normal weight and has even gained more muscle tone.