Health isn’t student concern

In a 24 hour period, college students are expected to attend classes, do their homework and study, work a part-time job to pay the bills and maintain a  social life. In addition to their daily duties, self-health seems to be one of the last things on many Plattsburgh State’s student’s minds.

“I haven’t gone to a doctor since before my freshmen year,” said PSUC junior Breezy Malagon.

Malagon said another thing she lacks at school is vitamins and sleep. At home, she gets both of these because she has less work and stress to deal with, she said. Plus, at home, her mother buys the vitamins for her to take, whereas at school, she doesn’t have the money to pay for them.

Emma Gleason said she splurges another buck for the gummy vitamins, which she takes daily. At home, her mother schedules her checkups at home, so she doesn’t have any appointments to make while in Plattsburgh.

Being breast cancer awareness month, Gleason said she has thought about checking herself more than usual, but does so already from time to time due to her family history. However she and PSUC student Katherine Sfoglia are not 100 percent sure on how to check themselves the correct way.

Sfoglia said she has checked herself before, but only a few times and was never sure if there was a right or wrong way to do it.

All around, Gleason said she wasn’t concerned with how she has been treating herself and will keep her concern consistent, unless a problem arises.

“I could step it up (self-health), but I’m comfortable with how it is,” she said.

On the other hand, PSUC student Hayden Earl said he doesn’t care about his health whatsoever and never truly has. He only was forced to when he was in high school.

“The zombie apocalypse is coming,” he said. “So what does it matter?”

Self-health, in his eyes, is seen as stress he doesn’t need to worry about, he said.

According to the College Student Health Study conducted by Boynton Health Services at the University of Minnesota, states one of every two (48.2 percent) college students (who completed the 2011 health survey) fall into the overweight (27.3 percent) or obese/extremely obese (21.6 percent) category.

Approximately 38.6 percent of students classify into the low or zero levels of physical activity, the study stated.

Many students say lack of time is a cause for slacking in exercise and self-health.

“I’d rather not be like them,” PSUC student Devin Brassard said about his family connection to obesity.

In the past, he wanted to change because of his appearance, he said, but now, he understands the dangers in obesity. Plus, the older a person is, the harder it is for them to drop weight, he said.

The 2011 study’s implications read that college students are setting the pace and type of lifestyles that they will have for the rest of their lives. It states that this college-aged generation is setting the norms for health and behavior, which is now becoming evident to today’s society.