Professor Christian Roberts’ own daily diet consists of
items like oatmeal, protein shakes, salmon, chicken and
vegetables.
While many teachers’ only connection with the material
they teach is research, Roberts connects by living according to the
fitness principles he talks about in his classes. Eating healthy
and working out are important to Roberts, who says his
father’s recent battle with cancer and double bypass surgery
are indicators that he is vulnerable to these same health
problems.
Through the information he teaches in his classes and his words
of wisdom gained through personal experiences ““ including his
father’s health issues ““ Roberts hopes to provide
students with the tools to lead healthier lives.
But being healthy hasn’t always been easy for him.
“I’ve gone through all the struggles students have
gone through. I tend to gain fat easily. I have to struggle
everyday with food choices … There are some days when I
don’t want to exercise and I have to tell myself to do
it,” he said.
He has taught “Issues in Human Physiology: Diet and
Exercise,” more commonly known as Physiological Science 5,
since 1995, usually co-teaching the class with Professor R. James
Barnard during fall quarter. The class, which had an average
enrollment of 168 students in 1995, averaged 393 students between
2000 and 2005, making it one of the most popular classes at
UCLA.
Barnard said Roberts is a “hardworking young man”
and a dedicated researcher and teacher.
Students have been able to reverse their Type II diabetes and
lose weight because of what they learned in the class, Roberts
said.
“(Barnard and I) feel every student should take the class
because they can apply it specifically to their life,” he
said.
Hannah Ahmed, a first-year biology student in Roberts’
class, said the class has made her think about everything she eats.
She said Roberts’ enthusiasm helps get his point across.
“He made it seem like this class would change our lives
because he was so passionate about it,” she said.
One of Roberts’ major concerns is how the decreasing
dependency on physical activity ““ due to technology such as
remote controls and moving walkways in airports ““ has
impacted how healthy people are.
“Obesity isn’t only an epidemic, it’s a
pandemic, meaning it’s global. The increase in obesity the
last 20 years is 100 percent related to environmental factors, not
genetics, because genetics hasn’t changed in the last 100
years,” he said.
Before growing up and teaching about fitness, Roberts was
learning how to be healthy with the help of his family.
Growing up in Laguna Miguel, Calif., Roberts said he used to
spend a lot of time at the beach, body-boarding, and running.
“(My brother and I) always exercised together and played
together and that probably helped us develop some type of
competitive personality.”
Roberts took this competitive personality with him into the many
sports he played in high school, including cross-country, track and
field, and soccer.
His high school athlete days behind him, Roberts has shifted
into the role of sports fan. He said he has many UCLA basketball
and football players in his class so he’s interested in how
they are doing.
In the class, Roberts dispels many of the myths he says students
have been living by and have thought to be true.
“A lot of people are afraid to lift weights (because) they
are afraid it’s going to make them look bulky,” he
said.
Roberts also said students tend to focus too much on weight when
they really should be focusing on body composition.
“If you have more muscle, your body mass is going to take
up more space. Even though you may not have lost weight, you have
lost space,” he said.
Roberts also said many students have the wrong idea about what
is good or bad for them to eat, thinking all carbohydrates and fats
are bad because of what they have heard in the media. He said
carbohydrates like brown rice or oatmeal are good choices.