Field Work Notes

First...I am very sorry that these are backwards. I have lost the cord to my camera and my scanner is messed up.

I sat in the Beaman during the lunch hour. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to see but I very quickly honed in on the eating habits of the students who were there.

1) Was I surprised?

I was actually incredibly surprised. We hear all the time about the youth of today being the fattest generation, that we don't eat well and that we are going to be the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than that of our parents. I was expecting to see a lot of WOW, sugary sodas and fried rice. What I saw were a lot of diet cokes, water bottles, salads and diet green teas. There was the occasional exception, however for the most part I was pretty impressed with the healthy choices that the student made.

2) What intrigued me?

As I noticed the healthy choices, I began to watch for students who were incredibly overweight. I surprisingly didn't find very many. According to a 2007 survey done by NBC, nearly 50% of college males and 30% of college females were overweight. As I watched the people in the Beaman I noticed only about 7-9% of students were overweight. I would like to know if this is something that is present all over campus.

3) What disturbed me?

I recognize several problems with my observations. First I was seated right outside of the gyms. Many of the students who walked by were on there way to work out so that is something to be considered. I also didn't go to several different places around campus to observe other eating habits. Maybe in the caf, where it is all you can eat, it would be a different story. I also didn't observe the Curb, which is where some of the most unhealthy food on campus is served.