Effects on College Students - Research Paper Example

Food habits, Sleeping pattern, social life and other factors like time management largely influences students. Impact of fast food Food habit is an important factor which affects ones efficiency as a student. The term fast food generally refers to food items which is ordered, purchased and received within 10 minutes (Spears,2003). The usage McDonaldization has been quite popular in the Western countries, especially in the US. In the context of college students, the popularity for fast food is being observed in all streams of the society.

It has more or less turned a fashion among college students. It has been reported that since 1970 the fast-food consumption has underwent an abrupt increase (Paeratakul, Ferdinand, Champagne. Ryan & Bray, 2003). The number of fast-food outlets in the US was around 30000 in 1970s. This has gone up to 233000 by the year 2004 (National Restaurant Association, 2005). The sales records suggested that fast-food accounting to more than $242.5 billion annually are being sold in the US (National Restaurant Association, 2005).

This data clearly suggests the popularity of fast-food joints in the US. It has been estimated that college students in the US eats fast-food 6 to 8 times a week (French, Harnack & Jeffery, 2000). This accounts for a large chunk of the total food consumption. However, this has long term impacts on the health and well being of the students. It also affects the curricular and co curricular activities of the students as well. Primarily, large consumption of fast-food causes imbalance in the dietary intake.

It has been estimated that 74% of the college students does not include appropriate amount of fruits and vegetables in their diet (French, Harnack & Jeffery, 2000. This can cause health issues. Major health issues that this poses are obesity and overweight. This physical status limits students from engaging in physical activities. This would create further health problems. Improper dietary habits would result in issues in sound sleep. The enthusiasm to study has also been proved to be lacking in case of students who consume large amount of fast food.

Impact of Social Life A large problem which has been identified among the students of America is that they limit their social lives to virtual spaces. Social networking websites and other virtual media are taking away ample time from the students. A status wherein students spend more time in front of computers as compared to the time they spend for the social and physical activities are found to be alarming. ‘It has been proven that extensive exposure content virtual can stop children from participating in social activities and organized sports (AAP,1992).

A national survey done in the United States (Woodward, E.H. & Gridina, 2000) in the year 2000 indicated that children between the age group of two years and seventeen years spent an average of thirty four minutes per day in front of different kind of screens including television. The increase exposure of college students to virtual social networks can cause negative physical impacts. Primarily, it affects their studies as this consumes a lot of time. When children spend excessive time in front of screens they automatically divert themselves from other physically activities like games and other outdoor hobbies.

College students used to prefer playing outdoor games in the past which