Ever heard of the “freshman 15″? It’s not a
reference to the number of units per quarter. Rather, it’s
the supposed amount of weight freshmen gain due to poor eating
habits and stress during their first year away from home. We Bruins
are not immune.
For those of us who crave midnight snacks, the search for food
becomes a compromise with health every time we step inside Puzzles
Eatery. As one of the only after-hours restaurants on campus, the
facility serves hundreds of students every night.
Unfortunately, Puzzles’ fatty entrees of double
cheeseburgers, personal pizzas and chili-cheese fries do not offer
wholesome meals to hungry students. Because Bruins depend on
Puzzles’ extended hours for late-night food on campus, the
eatery must examine its menu and bring better choices for the
benefit of its student customers.
Puzzles, for many students, is all too often a required
destination. Speedy service and close proximity to the dorms makes
the facility highly accessible to on-campus residents. Furthermore,
its extended hours allow customers to get meals until 2 a.m. This
makes the eatery highly popular in the early morning hours, when
other dining facilities are closed.
“If you have work or school commitments, or if
you’re out late with friends, or you don’t have
somebody to sit down with, or if you’re in a hurry, Puzzles
is fast, open late, and on-the-go,” explains Brittany Lawson,
a first-year biology student.
But Puzzles is not a health-conscious eatery. In fact, most
meals are loaded with calories and saturated fat. One bean and
cheese burrito, for example, is packed with 462 calories, while a
side order of curly fries and a jumbo cup of Pepsi adds up to over
700 calories. These dishes are surely quickly made, but they are
also incredibly detrimental for a late-night snacker. Constant
consumption of these foods before bedtime means slower digestion of
unhealthy, high-fat foods. It may even provoke clogging of the
arteries as well as other potential health risks.
Dining Services claims healthier alternatives like smoothies are
provided at Puzzles. However, not all so-called healthy foods are
favored among college students. College students crave
protein-rich, satiating food, and for this reason, an often
unfulfilling smoothie isn’t the most appealing. While a
smoothie contains 6 grams of protein, a bean and cheese burrito
provides 20 grams of protein. “You can’t live off
liquids,” says Lawson.
For this reason, burritos, pizza and chili-cheese fries are more
popular dinner and late-night options. At 2 a.m., instant
gratification is much more important than counting calories.
Thus, Puzzles should provide healthier, protein-rich snacks so
students can eat without having to carry a nutritional calculator.
It should provide the kind of foods weight-loss expert Dr. Phil
McGraw of TV fame calls “high-response cost,
high-yield.” Although the ubiquitous smoothie is classified
as one of these foods, the buck should not stop there.
Dinner, for example, could include “light” options
of items already on the menu. A light bean and cheese burrito, for
example, may include a whole-wheat tortilla and whole black (not
refried) beans.
Additionally, more nourishing, and nutritious entrees could be
added, such as scrambled eggs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,
marinated tofu and dinner salads. Improved side orders could
include assorted fruit and cheese plates, fresh nuts, steamed
edamame and high-fiber crackers.
Though some customers may favor the original options and
continue eating them, the “light” menu caters to those
who prefer leaner alternatives. Said Lawson, “I would
definitely order healthier options if they were available. Puzzles
is the equivalent of eating at McDonald’s, and I only eat
there because there’s nowhere else, sometimes.”
On Friday, the Daily Bruin reported that Dining Services’
nutritional information fails to include all of Puzzles’ meal
components. Absent foods include personal pizzas, double
cheeseburgers and clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls. The
omissions were deemed an “oversight” by Charles
Wilcots, Dining Services assistant director. But whatever the
reason, Dining Services must promptly add all nutritional
information to its Web site. Students must be informed about what
they put in their bodies.
College students are notoriously unhealthy, and Dining Services
should take note. Pam Viele, director of health education at the
Arthur Ashe Center, said, “College students, like people in
general, are bombarded by images of what is and isn’t correct
eating. A lot of misconceptions exist.”
In fact, 70 percent of all college students do not eat their
recommended five-a-day serving of fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile,
many are deficient in iron. This iron deficiency can be partially
attributed to meat-eaters’ reduction of red meat, while many
vegetarians fail to replace meats with protein and iron-rich
alternatives.
Considering these paltry circumstances, late-night fare that is
both appealing and nutritious becomes all the more imperative at
the university.
As an on-campus eatery, Puzzles should widen its menu to include
healthier alternatives. Bruins must be provided more diverse and
nutritious entrees, especially considering their often unbalanced
diets.
If students demand expansion of the facility’s menu as
well as online posting of all nutritional information, Dining
Services may take notice and make changes. The benefit is too
important to be overlooked: the health of current and future Bruins
as well as the general UCLA community.
It is in our own hands to better our diets, but we must be
provided the opportunity to do so. Otherwise, Bruins, like the
negligent French queen once suggested, will simply eat cake.
Fried is a first-year history student. E-mail her at
ifried@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.