Artwork by Yena Park
As students, It’s easy to find yourself swamped with loads of homework, buried under mountains of textbooks, and racing to meet deadlines. Being a student isn’t easy—we manage multiple tasks, study for countless hours a day, maintain a social life, and manage extracurricular activities. Amidst this whirlwind of responsibilities, you may have trouble taking care of the most important thing—yourself. The importance of eating food is especially overlooked as students. Proper nutrition not only becomes the fuel for your body to keep up with your busy lifestyle but also sustains your personal well-being overall.
It’s true that having a healthy relationship with food is important at any age. But as a student specifically—where you tend to prioritize school and feel the weight of modern social beauty standards—it’s easier for younger teenagers to overstate the significance of eating filling meals every day.
Eating nutritious meals, three times a day is especially important for students. Research has shown that students are able to learn much more effectively once they've eaten nourishing foods. According to Options for Youth, eating filling meals “has been linked to higher grades, better memory and alertness, and faster information processing” (“Sizer: A North Central Charter Essential School”) Your body needs energy to function properly. Being in school from 8 to 3 is hard–on both the body and brain. Eating the right foods at the appropriate times provides the required energy to help you get through the day. Eating snacks from vending machines or cafés takes a toll on your body and possibly your academic performance as well.
As teenagers, food can become a sensitive topic. The evergoing beauty standards or pressure from friends can make you want to lessen the amount of food you eat. When your friends grab a salad, you might feel the need to buy one as well. However, everyone's body is different. And it's crucial that you listen to your body–not anyone else's. Don't get one if you know you can't sustain with just a salad. The possible consequences of not eating properly (dehydration, formation of eating disorders, loss of focus, fainting, etc) are much more dire than whatever your friends might say if you don't get a salad. Sure, you want to fit in. You want to lose weight, you want to eat whatever your friends eat, etc. But whenever you find yourself having a different time when choosing to eat, think of this: would you want your friends to be hungry? Would you want your family members not to eat meals? If you wouldn't want these people to not eat, why would you want yourself to? Your body is just as valuable, just as important, and just as fragile as everyone else's. Love your body. Listen to your body. Prioritize your body. Eat what you need, and eat what you desire.
In all, it’s so important to ensure that you are maintaining a healthy relationship with food. What you eat may affect how you do in school and can become the fuel that gets you through the day. Being a student can be tough, and it's a lot on our plates. But by starting with eating filling meals, you'll be able to gradually find your lives a bit easier to follow.
Works Cited:
“Sizer: A North Central Charter Essential School.” Sizerschool.org, 2020, www.sizerschool.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=465021&type=d#:~:text=Healthy%20eating%20has%20been%20linked,habits%20can%20negatively%20affect%20learning. Accessed 30 Sept. 2023.
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