Thursday, February 19, 2015
third research blog
K.D. Langdon, J. Clarke, D. Corbett, Long-term exposure to high fat diet is bad for your brain: exacerbation of focal ischemic brain injury, Neuroscience, Volume 182, 19 May 2011, Pages 82-87, ISSN 0306-4522, http://0-dx.doi.org.libcat.uncw.edu/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.03.028.
(http://0-www.sciencedirect.com.libcat.uncw.edu/science/article/pii/S0306452211002867)
Keywords: sensorimotor function; Western diet; high fat diet; stroke; animal models; metabolic syndrome
This article investigates the affects of prolonged exposure to a high fat diet on the brain. This has never been able to be tested on humans but has been heavily researched through animals such as mice and rats. The results of tests show that animals fed high fat diets for 3 months or longer show a decrease in cognitive abilities. the tests show that high fat negatively changes the cerebral microvasculature and neuronal physiology (Langdon, Clarke, Corbett. 2011).
This research gives good back up to the points we are trying to make. One of our major points is that students cannot learn as well on sub par diets provided by the school, and these tests from animals show that prolonged exposure to high fat content foods like the ones served on campus actually limits cognitive ability.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Third Research Blog -- Brandi Jackson
UNC Wilmington Campus Dining (2015). "Wagoner Dining Hall Menu." Aramark, web. Retrieved from http://uncw.campusdish.com/Commerce/Catalog/Menus.aspx?LocationId=669&MenuDate=2%2f23%2f2015&Device=False
I found this while researching food on and around UNCW. Unfortunately, the only menu available on the website is for Wagoner Dining Hall, not for any of the other dining locations on campus.
Even though it is only for Wagoner, I believe it is helpful. Through the menu, anyone is able to pick different entrees, deserts, etc. in order to calculate the number of calories, how much protein, how much calcium, etc. they will be consuming during a given meal. The interactive features of the menu are especially important for today's technology-driven world.
Below I have attached a picture for one of the menu items that will be available during lunch on February 18, 2015:
I found this while researching food on and around UNCW. Unfortunately, the only menu available on the website is for Wagoner Dining Hall, not for any of the other dining locations on campus.
Even though it is only for Wagoner, I believe it is helpful. Through the menu, anyone is able to pick different entrees, deserts, etc. in order to calculate the number of calories, how much protein, how much calcium, etc. they will be consuming during a given meal. The interactive features of the menu are especially important for today's technology-driven world.
Below I have attached a picture for one of the menu items that will be available during lunch on February 18, 2015:
By finding this, I've created and partially answered the following question: What is UNCW doing or not doing in order to deliver quality food service to its students and faculty?
Even though there is an interactive menu available for Wagoner Dining Hall, menus for all other food service locations on campus do not have one. With this new information, it seems that there is a larger focus on Wagoner Dining Hall, considering it is in the immediate vicinity of all on-campus housing. Wagoner is closer than walking all the way to Dub's Cafe, The Landing, Hawk's Nest, or any of the corporation-owned businesses on campus (i.e. Einstein's Bros., Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Port City Java, etc.). Also, Wagoner is opened for the longest number of hours, meaning people are able to catch meals at 8pm without having to leave campus.
Conclusion:
Because of this information, my group now knows that Wagoner Dining Hall has a menu that is accessible through the internet. The other on-campus food locations do not. This will provide us with a starting point when we begin our survey.
Third Research Blog - Daniel Rodriguez
Florence, Michelle D,M.Sc, P.Dt, Asbridge, M., PhD., & Veugelers, P. J., PhD. (2008). Diet quality and academic performance*. The Journal of School Health, 78(4), 209-15; quiz 239-41. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.libcat.uncw.edu/docview/215673476?accountid=14606
This Source While not directly relating to my topic provides some very useful information. Instead of looking at college students this study looks at the effects of nutrition and weight on fifth grade students. Even though the age difference of the students in my topic and this research journal ( college and grade school) are different I believe that the journal overall still supports the topic. The research this journal is based on also seems solid. The Study its based on took a survey of app 5200 grade school students and their parents in Canada. The results revealed a relationship between poor food quality and academic assessment performance. The main idea was that Students whom had poor diets performed worse on their assessments than those who ate healthier, more nutritional diets.
This source will most likely not be used as the main source of reference in the paper I write because it does not directly relate to college students. The comparisons that can be made between the my topic and the Studies findings may prove useful in the end though. Based on my other sources it seems that the trends found among grade school children may carry on into college.
Overall this source may be less direct in relation to my topic but still has some good points within it. The data and statistics on it are on a larger scale than in the other sources I've found making it possibly more reliable research. I will definitely take advantage of this and include charts and statistics from this source in the paper.
This Source While not directly relating to my topic provides some very useful information. Instead of looking at college students this study looks at the effects of nutrition and weight on fifth grade students. Even though the age difference of the students in my topic and this research journal ( college and grade school) are different I believe that the journal overall still supports the topic. The research this journal is based on also seems solid. The Study its based on took a survey of app 5200 grade school students and their parents in Canada. The results revealed a relationship between poor food quality and academic assessment performance. The main idea was that Students whom had poor diets performed worse on their assessments than those who ate healthier, more nutritional diets.
This source will most likely not be used as the main source of reference in the paper I write because it does not directly relate to college students. The comparisons that can be made between the my topic and the Studies findings may prove useful in the end though. Based on my other sources it seems that the trends found among grade school children may carry on into college.
Overall this source may be less direct in relation to my topic but still has some good points within it. The data and statistics on it are on a larger scale than in the other sources I've found making it possibly more reliable research. I will definitely take advantage of this and include charts and statistics from this source in the paper.
Monday, February 16, 2015
second research blog
Huang, T. T. -., Harris, K. J., Lee, R. E., Nazir, N., & al, e. (2003). Assessing overweight, obesity, diet, and physical activity in college students. Journal of American College Health, 52(2), 83-6. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.libcat.uncw.edu/docview/213031047?accountid=14606
This article is a study of 738 college students between the ages of 18-27 to assess their overweight, obesity, dietary habits, and physical activity. The authors found over 21.6 overweight rate in the students and that more than 69% of students ate less that recommended 5 servings of fruits/vegetables a day (Huang et al. 2003)
This article does a good job triangulating to what we are trying to prove because it shows that a big percentage of college students are overweight due to bad dietary habits and lack of exercise. It further back up our thesis observing that fact that the vast majority of students are not ingesting the proper amount of fruits and vegetables daily to have a healthy diet. In addition the authors stress how the it necessary that an intervention must take place to educate students to be able to live healthier lives.
This article is a study of 738 college students between the ages of 18-27 to assess their overweight, obesity, dietary habits, and physical activity. The authors found over 21.6 overweight rate in the students and that more than 69% of students ate less that recommended 5 servings of fruits/vegetables a day (Huang et al. 2003)
This article does a good job triangulating to what we are trying to prove because it shows that a big percentage of college students are overweight due to bad dietary habits and lack of exercise. It further back up our thesis observing that fact that the vast majority of students are not ingesting the proper amount of fruits and vegetables daily to have a healthy diet. In addition the authors stress how the it necessary that an intervention must take place to educate students to be able to live healthier lives.
Second Research Blog -- Brandi Jackson
Graham, D.J., Laska, M.N. (2012). Nutrition label use partially mediates the relationship between attitude toward healthy eating and overall dietary quality among college students. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 112(3). 414-418.
In this article, a survey was conducted in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. The survey consisted of a total of 1,201 students: 603 at a four-year university and 598 at a two-year community college. The researchers recruited the students and gave them a self-assessment test with regards to their reading of nutrition labels, dietary assessment, belief in the importance of preparing healthy meals, and demographic information. The data was analyzed and then reported. Only 35% of the respondents were dubbed "frequent label readers," meaning they read nutritional labels frequently, which I found significant. If only 35% read nutritional labels frequently, that means 65% read nutritional labels infrequently or never. Considering that, the conclusion of the survey would make a lot of sense:
In relation to UNCW, most foods on campus do not have nutritional labels. Unless you buy food out of a vending machine (which is mostly junk food and soda) or out of one of the convenience stores, most items on campus do not carry their own nutritional labels.
This article did not answer a question my group raised earlier, but it creates a new one: if nutritional labels were provided for all foods on-campus, would the quality of foods served at UNCW better and would students and faculty alike make more informed decisions regarding the foods they eat? My group could possibly research this further in order to better understand UNCW's food quality problem.
In this article, a survey was conducted in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. The survey consisted of a total of 1,201 students: 603 at a four-year university and 598 at a two-year community college. The researchers recruited the students and gave them a self-assessment test with regards to their reading of nutrition labels, dietary assessment, belief in the importance of preparing healthy meals, and demographic information. The data was analyzed and then reported. Only 35% of the respondents were dubbed "frequent label readers," meaning they read nutritional labels frequently, which I found significant. If only 35% read nutritional labels frequently, that means 65% read nutritional labels infrequently or never. Considering that, the conclusion of the survey would make a lot of sense:
"[A]ttitude toward preparing healthy meals significantly predicted nutrition label use;... both attitude and nutrition label use significantly predicted the healthy eating composite score, suggesting possible partial mediation by nutrition label use of the relationship between attitude toward healthy eating and healthy dietary practices" (Graham and Laska 416).The quote above describes the conclusion of the survey. Attitudes towards healthy eating were positively correlated with nutrition label use and with healthy dietary practices among young adults; because of these results, nutrition label use could mean that an increase in the use of nutrition labels would have a positive net effect on healthy dietary practices and people's attitudes towards such practices.
In relation to UNCW, most foods on campus do not have nutritional labels. Unless you buy food out of a vending machine (which is mostly junk food and soda) or out of one of the convenience stores, most items on campus do not carry their own nutritional labels.
This article did not answer a question my group raised earlier, but it creates a new one: if nutritional labels were provided for all foods on-campus, would the quality of foods served at UNCW better and would students and faculty alike make more informed decisions regarding the foods they eat? My group could possibly research this further in order to better understand UNCW's food quality problem.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Second Research Blog Post - Daniel Rodriguez
Deliens, T., Clarys, P., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., & Deforche, B. (2013). Weight, socio-demographics, and health behaviour related correlates of academic performance in first year university students. Nutrition Journal, 12(1), 162. doi:http://0-dx.doi.org.libcat.uncw.edu/10.1186/1475-2891-12-1
This source contains information regarding research done on first year university students. Specifically, this journal article examines the relationship between student health behavior and academic performance for those who attended all of their course exams. The study and research from which the Journal is based on correlates directly with one of my papers topics, "effects of a good diet on academic performance". According to the journal (2013) "This study. . . showed that academic performance is associated with a wide range of weight and health related behaviors"(p. 162). This is good supporting evidence for my paper. The Journal also comes with two pages of tables and other information that was taken directly from the study; Statistics essentially.
This source contains information regarding research done on first year university students. Specifically, this journal article examines the relationship between student health behavior and academic performance for those who attended all of their course exams. The study and research from which the Journal is based on correlates directly with one of my papers topics, "effects of a good diet on academic performance". According to the journal (2013) "This study. . . showed that academic performance is associated with a wide range of weight and health related behaviors"(p. 162). This is good supporting evidence for my paper. The Journal also comes with two pages of tables and other information that was taken directly from the study; Statistics essentially.
The information is useful as now I can include more than just a quote in my paper, I can include back-up evidence on the authors conclusions. The source describes everything about the research in depth and then describes their findings as well giving me a plethora of quotes and information to pick from. Further, this source is fairly recent (2013) so the information should still be easily applicable. The only part of this source that makes it questionable to my papers main concern is that this was a European study and the foods and diets in other countries may differ from the ones in which my paper pertains to. Even with this fact, I still believe the source will be valuable to my overall goal.
More sources like this one will be useful but unfortunately this topic has proved hard to research. I've even read in several other journals about how there is a lack of research for this topic. most research seems to be focused on grade school age subjects not university students. Hopefully further research on my part will yield more sources and useful information such as this one did.
Friday, February 13, 2015
First Research Blog Post - Daniel Rodriguez
Trockel, M. T., Barnes, M. D., & Egget, D. L. (2000). Health-related variables and academic performance among first-year college students: Implications for sleep and other behaviors. Journal of American College Health, 49(3), 125-31. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.libcat.uncw.edu/docview/213027515?accountid=14606
Research done on a random sample of 200 first year college students revealed links between students behavioral habits and their respective GPA. This includes reference to nutrition although according to the journal very little research has been done specifically regarding college students nutrition. It instead refers to research done on younger grade school students. The journal states:
“Although the effects of eating breakfast10-12 and other nutritional variables on elementary students'13 academic performance have received much attention in the literature, little information on the effects of nutritional habits on college students' academic performance can be found. One reported study involving university students, however, showed improved immediate recall and spatial memory as a result of eating breakfast.11.”
This document while not the most useful, contains information about what besides nutrition can affect students GPA’s giving me a better background for the information I write about. The other sources I found did not include information like this. This paper also gives me a better perspective on the other research I may come across. It contains many useful references in case I wish to explore any information related to student habits and its effect on their GPA. It would be better if this document contained more data straight from research but the third source I found (bottom of page) contains a lot of this "hard data" I need compensating for this sources lack of it.
Health and medicine; new diet and nutrition study results from free university described. (2014). Health & Medicine Week, , 3219. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.libcat.uncw.edu/docview/1477463336?accountid=14606
This short article explains how weight and health behavior in students correlated with their attendance of exams and academic performance. The results were interesting. It showed that often male students who consumed more french fries throughout the semester or whose waist size increased over the course of that school year failed to attend more exams and therefore suffered academically. This is a short article but contains useful information and directly relates to the main topic of my research which regards the effects of student nutrition on academic performance. This article is actually a summary of someone elses research so it may not be the most credible piece of work.It does however bring to light some interesting paints that the other research I found doesn't include.
Deliens, T., Clarys, P., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., & Deforche, B. (2013). Weight, socio-demographics, and health behaviour related correlates of academic performance in first year university students. Nutrition Journal, 12(1), 162. doi:http://0-dx.doi.org.libcat.uncw.edu/10.1186/1475-2891-12-162
This source has a lot of useful data that directly relates students eating and health habits with GPA. The data will be useful in supporting the case we will make in our report. This data is particularly useful because it breaks up eating habits into categories including vegetables, fruits and eating location among other things. It provides actual statistics which the other sources lacked. It briefly explains its findings and has multiple useful quotes that will come in handy when writing the paper. I wish I could have found more sources containing this type of "hard data". but as the fist source references, "Little information on the effects of nutritional habits on college students' academic performance can be found." My topic,"The effect of students diet on academic performance" has turned out to be quite difficult to do research on.
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