Results and Recommendations University of Cincinnati College Freshmen Nominal Group Process: Upon completion of my nominal group process

there were a wide variety of ideas that had been thrown around. The topics that were discussed were nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and alcohol consumption. After the process was over we took a vote and taking first place was nutrition with an average of 20 votes (average number out of fifty from all four of the nominal group processes), coming in a close second was exercise with 17 votes, and in last was stress reduction with 13. As you can see, there was not one problem that far exceeded the rest; all were concerns for these students. There were many points brought up in our group discussion, mostly personal stories. There were stories of friends drinking too much and having to go to the hospital, stories of weight gain since college had begun, stories of stress caused by the shocking differences between college and high school, lack of sleep due to late night studying, and acknowledgement of the schools attempt at making t he cafeterias a healthier option than fast food. I initiated discussions by first having an icebreaker so people would feel more comfortable sharing with each other. I made it clear that everyone has the right to their own opinions and that everyone needs to respect each other when someone is speaking. I asked the students to share any of their experiences that they think other people may have also had which was a big hit. Soon there were solutions being thrown around and I couldnt even keep up so I had to bring the conversation back to a more organized discussion.

Literature Review:

Before I developed my survey I completed a literature review on the health of college freshmen. There were many people questioning whether the freshmen 15 is real or if its just a myth. While it is true that many college freshmen gain weight, the average amount found at Dartmouth college is only 3.5 lbs. for men and 4 lbs. for women; although the weight gain is real, the number has been exaggerated quite a bit (Kroll, 2007). This weight gain is due to not only a poor diet, but also due to the lack of physical activity because of all the stressful studying they have to do in order to do well in class. A 2009 statistic shows that 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol ("A snapshot of," 2010). Students get out on their own for the first time and tend to go crazy right off the bat because they are not accustomed to all of this newfound freedom.

Survey: HEALTH AND NUTRITION SURVEY

On average, how many times a week do you eat out? A. 0 B. 1-4 C. 5-8 D. More than 8
Answer Choices 0 1-4 5-8 More than 8 Number 12 36 72 80 Percentage 6% 18% 36% 40%

Without parents to set out meals in front of them, new college students tend to resort to eating out. Eating out is much quicker and easier than making something in

the dorms day after day. When living in the dorms most of these students admit to having very little food in their rooms which is why they must go out to eat often. Because the majority of the students living in dorms do not have cars, most of them dont get out to buy groceries. Another factor that does not allow them to buy groceries is the small refrigerator that they have to share with 1-3 other people. There are healthy options in the cafeterias but many admitted that they do not always choose the healthy meals like they should.

How many sugar beverages (soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, etc.) do you consume in a week? A. 0-3 B. 4-7 C. 8-10 D. More than 10
Answer Choices 0-3 4-7 8-10 More than 10 Number 52 76 44 28 Percentage 26% 38% 22% 14%

With this question many students didnt see a problem with drinking numerous sugar beverages in a week. Although most admitted to knowing that they arent good for you they admit that they just dont like drinking water all that much. The few that admitted to drinking more than ten in a week also admitted that they rarely drink water which they didnt see as a problem because they still thought they were staying hydrated. Sugar beverages can lead to easy weight gain and having pop dispensers in the cafeterias doesnt make it easy to turn down. In the dorms, if you want water you either have to have bottles or a water filter in order to have water constantly on hand.

In a normal week, how often do you eat breakfast? A. Once a week B. Twice a week C. Three times a week D. Four times a week E. Five times a week F. Six times a week G. Every day (seven times a week)
Answer Choices Once a week Twice a week Three times a week Four times a week Five times a week Six times a week Every day (seven times a week) Number 4 12 24 44 56 44 16 Percentage 2% 6% 12% 22% 28% 22% 8%

Many of the students I spoke to

admitted that they usually wake up right before class starts and do not make time to eat breakfast. Everyone acknowledged the fact that breakfast is supposed to be good for you, but many were not too concerned. They told me that they would much rather have that extra few minutes of sleep than eat breakfast. Those who did say they eat breakfast on a regular basis only grabbed something quick like a cereal bar which they didnt see any problem with. Although the cafeteria does serve breakfast every day, only a small percentage actually took advantage of this service.

How many cups of fruits/vegetables would you say you eat in a day? A. Less than a cup B. 1-2 cups C. 3-4 cups D. More than 4 cups

Answer Choices Less than a cup 1-2 cups 3-4 cups More than 4 cups

Number 85 77 28 10

Percentage 42.5% 38.5% 14% 5%

Not being able to go to the grocery also means that many do not get the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables a day. The cafeterias all offer fruits, but not many vegetables. They always offer apples, oranges, and bananas, they occasionally offer other fruits, but the fact of the matter is that fruit is not the food of choice for many college students. Even those who do live with their parents tend to not eat as many fruits and vegetables as they should. Fruit and vegetables are essential to our overall health and yet many people tend to not include them in their daily meals.

One average, how many hours of sleep do you get in a night? A. Less than 5 B. 5-6 C. 7-8 D. More than 8
Answer Choices Less than 5 5-6 7-8 More than 8 Number 27 90 61 22 Percentage 13.5% 45% 30.5% 11%

College is much different than high school with a lot more homework and studying that needs to be done. All of the students that I spoke to agreed that college was a culture shock and that they had a hard time getting priorities straight. It is very easy to not study and go out instead, but the key is time management. A lot of students tend to leave a lot of their studying for the night before the exam which means they are getting much less sleep than the recommended eight of nine, in some cases students

pull all-nighters. Lack of sleep causes a lot of problems because it throws off their sleeping patterns for the rest of the week and sometimes beyond that.

Do you usually have a hard time falling asleep at night? A. Yes B. No

Answer Choices Yes No Number 128 72 Percentage 64% 36%

Once you fall asleep would you say you wake up again: A. Never B. Rarely C. A couple times a week D. All the time
Answer Choices Never Rarely A couple times a week All of the time Number 27 63 78 32 Percentage 13.5% 31.5% 39% 16%

Both of the previous survey questions are very similar if someone has trouble falling asleep it is not uncommon that they also have trouble staying asleep. Along with the privacy issue that comes with having roommates, there is also the issue of noise. For some, noisy roommates cause people to have a difficult time falling asleep. A difficult time sleeping can also be caused by too much caffeine as many students drink multiple of these in a single day. Another thing that may cause difficulty sleeping is stress caused by too much school work. With all of these factors it is no surprise to me that over half of the students I spoke to reported having trouble sleeping and the majority have trouble staying asleep as well.

How many hours are you active on a typical day? A. Less than 30 minutes B. 30-60 minutes C. More than 60 minutes
Answer Choices Less than 30 min 30-60 min More than 60 min Number 90 74 36 Percentage 45% 37% 18%

Although the campus recreation center is in the middle of campus the majority of students I spoke with say that they do not use it. They have a lot of school work to do and with their downtime they like to just relax while they can. The groups I had gotten together did not consider walking to class being active so this may have affected the outcome of the survey. The majority of the students who reported being active over 60 minutes a day were mostly the student athletes both college and club level.

Do you walk/ride a bike to class on a daily basis? A. Yes B. No

Answer Choices Yes No Number 121 79 Percentage 60.5% 39.5%

Nearly all of students who reported that they did not walk or ride class were commuter students. Some of the students lived too far away and either drove or took a shuttle to main campus. Although this is not a high-energy activity it still helps peoples overall being. Programming Decision:

After I completed all parts of my study I was overwhelmed with the fact that not one problem was the biggest concern for students. It seemed as though they were concerned with everything that we talked about. Because this is the case, I could not choose just one health issue to focus on. The University of Cincinnati has the Wellness Center which targets most of these issues. This being said, I went to the Wellness Center and wanted to see what topic was not being covered as well as the others. Nutrition is the topic that I chose, and this is because although we all learned about this in middle school and high school I think it is important to cover nutrition when living on your own for the first time. I would like to create a program that focuses on the cafeterias and the resources that are readily available for these students. I would make the cafeterias have the food pyramid or plate to remind them what their target is. I would also like to create posters that give the meal combination that will provide the most nutrition with the least amount of calories. There are foods that are in all of the cafeterias every day so there are combinations that they have every single day. We will have a group that meets once a month and reports how the posters are being received and spit-balling other ideas that could be helpful to the students. I am not sure how many people will attend but I would like to turn this into almost a club instead of just a group. We will meet in a classroom and occasionally will take trips to the cafeterias if we feel the need to.

Works Cited

A snapshot of annual high-risk college drinking consequences. (2010, July 01). Retrieved from http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/statssummaries/snapshot.aspx Kroll, S. (2007). Freshman 15 statistics: campus myth or reality?. Retrieved from http://www.personal-nutrition-guide.com/freshman-15-statistics.html