College Health is a field of medicine that exclusively deals with the medical care of college age students (from age 18 through 28 years). Many colleges and universities campuses offer some sort of student health service, but there is wide variability in the healthcare resources available from campus to campus, with models of student health ranging from first aid stations employing a single nurse to large multi-specialty clinics with hundreds of employees. The vast majority of college health services are set up as service units rather than academic departments. The educational aspect of college health is sometimes referred to Health Promotion in Higher Education.
In 1988, it was estimated that there were approximately 27.3 college health staff per 10,000 students, which if amortized to the 20.7 million students attending the more than 3,400 colleges and universities in the United States (in 2003) ), suggests that there are approximately 56,500 college health professionals in the United States. College health professionals include physicians, physician assistants, administrators, nurses, nurse practitioners, mental health professionals, health educators, athletic trainers, dietitians and nutritionists, and pharmacists. Some college health services extend to include massage therapists and other holistic health professionals. College health professionals are often members of a national body, such as the American College Health Association. Another national body among college health is the National Collegiate EMS Foundation (NCEMSF), which is dedicated to the promotion and support of emergency medical services on college and university campuses.
Video College health
Trends and Problems of Marijuana Use in College
Marijuana use is more prevalent among college students than the general population. A 2015 study, for example, found the daily use of marijuana was more common than cigarettes among college students.
Maps College health
Alcohol
Alcohol is a depressant used in intoxicating people. It is found in beer, wine, and liquor. Alcohol is made when microorganisms metabolize the carbohydrates when there is no oxygen present. This process is called fermentation. Beer, wine, and liquor contain different amounts of alcohol and thus affect the drinker differently. Liquor has the highest percentage of alcohol, while beer has the lowest.
According to The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug dependence, studies have also shown that drinking alcohol moderately can be helpful to the coronary system. In general, for healthy people, one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men would be considered the maximum amount of alcohol consumption to be considered moderate use. This shows that drinking can be beneficial in moderation. Binge drinking and alcoholism, however, have proven to be harmful.
Eating Disorder
Eating disorders are relatively common among college students and can be caused due to changes in lifestyle and stress levels. Examples of common stressors with college students are relationships, classwork, and lack of sleep, which can cause students to exhibit eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or binge eating.
Common eating disorders
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by low appetite and a strong desire to lose weight, be thin, and fears of gaining weight. People suffering from anorexia nervosa frequently have an abnormally low body weight, which can cause muscle dysfunction and weak osmoregulation. It can also accompany emotional symptoms such as depression.
Binge eating disorder
Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without subsequent purging episodes (e.g. vomiting). People who have this disorder can experience an uncontrollable urge to consume large amounts of food regardless of whether or not they are hungry and can feel like they have no control while they are eating.
Weight Gain
The entrance of a new life means changing and adapting. Beginning freshmen enter a new phase that affects the way they eat. They are unaware of their nutrition and they only want something from what they see. High school is very different from what college is. Students transition from being in small classroom into big lecture rooms. The same goes for food, they transition from being served in cafeterias to buffet styles in college. Dining centers excite new students because this is a new experience, therefore they grab more than what they should. It's something new and it's what they're paying for.
Around campus are many network of vending machines fill with varieties of junk food. When students don't have the time to eat they rely on vending machines as a part of their meal. Illinois: Champaign, 2004. Eating junk food lacks nutrition and proteins. Eventually those calories in the products will build up into fats.
Universities are not finding ways to reduce junk food around campus nor providing healtheir meals in dining centers. Instead, university administrators give away specific amount of dining dollars to students who lives on campus. Although they would want to serve healtheir food to their students, the price for them is just too expensive to spend.
Many experiments are being tested to see how much weight can gain in one year. So far study has show stresses in women are more likely to gain weight then non-stress women. Women with stress are more likely to consume alcohol and having the tendencies to go out more in order to eliminate their emotion. They also eat low in fiber and consume more caffeine. Nevertheless, non-stress women have more vegetable in their body and they are cautious enough to stay away from high cholesterol food. Although students do gain weight in college, they can always burn it off by exercising and eating right. Overall meaning limiting how much they eat out and the junk food they pact into their body system. Students can prevent the 'freshman 15' if only they put effort and hard work for a healtheir body or image.
See also
- Cigarette smoking among college students
References
Further reading
- Turner HS, ed. (2002). The History and Practice of College Health. Hurley JL. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2257-0.
- Boyum, Dick. "Marijuana Use and College Students." Workplace Blues. 2003. 10 Oct. 2007 <http://www.workplaceblues.com/relationships/marijuana.asp>.
- Pope, H.g., and Todd D. Yurgelun. "The Residual Cognitive Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use in College Students." The Journal of the American Medical Association 257 (1996): 1-2. Duluth, MN. 12 Oct. 2007 http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/275/7/521
- Witmer, Denise. "Parenting of Adolescents." About.Com. 9 Sept. 2006. 10 Oct. 2007 <http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/marijuana/a/marijuana10.htm>.
External links
- College Health Info
- Journal of American College Health
- National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation
- The American College Health Association
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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