The Chronicle

March 5th, 2008

Is college a health problem?

Does Duke, specifically, make students unhealthy?  Apparently not. The general consensus seems to be that college in general takes a toll on students’ health, and that the health concerns seen on campus is prevalent at universities across the country.

Due to less sleep, more work and copious opportunities to eat out and order in, students’ overall health can easily deteriorate if they don’t consciously make an effort to take care of themselves, sophomore Michael Worsman said.

The nature of Duke’s academic excellence and competitiveness also play a part in student health, Director of Health Promotion Franca Alphin said.

“Those that have high expectations are highly driven and tend to compromise for their health for the things they want to achieve,” she said, adding that these are characteristics of many prestigious universities.

A senior who did not want to be named said although she can see how being at Duke can make students submit to peer pressure, personal health is still a personal issue.

“I think people can make themselves unhealthy,” she said. “I don’t think it is fair to blame an entire institution for the well being of people. At the end of the day you decide how much pressure you want to put on yourself and that in my opinion determines whether you live a healthy lifestyle.”

However, with the vibrant social scene and the social pressure to present a certain image, the adapted Duke lifestyle is subject to change after college, freshman Karan Chhabra said.

“I think college is the time we can get away with this madness,” he said. “Although we might leave with a beer belly and slightly lower GPA, the consequences are substantially lower here in terms of social norms. Thirty-one-year olds shouldn’t shotgun a beer–that’s just absurd.”

Still, the senior said she thinks “unhealthiness” is a problem.

“I think students across all universities struggle with similar issues that Duke students face,” she said. “They might be the same or different, but it doesn’t matter because unhealthy living is happening everywhere. It is a reflection of our culture and American values.”
–Emmeline Zhao

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 4:19 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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