Everyday as a college student, my food choices are influenced by social norms. The “freshman fifteen” as we all call it is in fact a real dilemma. It is hard to maintain a healthy diet while incorporating a heavy load of school work and many hours at the library. It is easier for me to stop and get fast food instead of taking the time out of my day or night to cook a healthier meal choice. I think that a lot of college kids feel this way because that is how our society is today. We are given so many options of fast food choices that it is very normal to gain weight during your freshman year and continue on this healthy diet, as you don’t have many other options.
Eating fast food constantly can lead to one very important societal issue that is I think is very overlooked especially here in America. Obesity is so common now days because fast food is such an easy alternative than staying healthy and fit.On major streets in cities you are bound to see a mcdonalds, arbys, or burger king every time you turn the corner, but where are the healthier drive thru options? My point being, there are none to very little.Our social norm instead should be how can we as a society make it more convenient to just add some fruit or vegetables to our diets, instead of a big mac and fries. It is almost disgustingly normal how often we see others start to gain excessive and unhealthy amount of weight just because it is their easiest option.
Hey! My name is Mara and I am a Sophomore at Penn State UP! I really liked your blog post and how it talked about the “freshman fifteen.” My blog also talked about with students busy schedules it’s hard to sit down and eat a healthy meal all the time. Also, I really liked how you talked about all the unhealthy eating options here in America and how we should incorporate more fruits and vegetables. Your diagram is very easy to understand and I liked how you added that fast food is easy, fast, and cheap. If you want to check out my blog, here is a link: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/04/module-6-social-norms-of-a-college-student/
Hi Zoe, great post. I agree that the need for a quick meal is very important to many college students. We have so little time to complete all of schoolwork and stuff for clubs and sports, that eating has to be done quickly. As you stated in your second paragraph, obesity is more and more common every year, which I think is adding to the problem. People so others doing fine being overweight, and they think it isn’t that big of an issue. If you would like to check out my blog, go to:
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/04/module-6-8/
Salutations! My name is Sara and I am majoring in Plant Science at University Park (Here is a link to my blog post http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/03/no-meat-on-fridays/). For this assignment I wanted to try to find a social norm that could in fact be beneficial to society and the environment so I chose to write about how my church doesn’t eat meat on Fridays. I have to say though, your post caught my eye because your observations are all too true and frankly I think it’s quite sad. I spent four months in France last year and I find it interesting that it is actually (perhaps a bit less so now than before)a social norm which would prevent French people from eating fast food, or something similar because as a culture food is one of the most important things to them. Just an interesting observation. I also liked your diagram which was clean and very easily understood.