Surviving College Life

Review: 101 Health and Wellness Tips for College Students

May 15th, 2008 Jamie

It’s hard to balance your health with a busy college lifestyle, but if you’ve ever tried to study for a midterm with a cold, you probably know that the value of your health increases as your life gets busier!

My few experiences with being very sick in college prompted posts about what to do if you get sick, as well as what to do if your roommate is sick. But what can you do to be healthier overall?

RNCentral just posted a great article that might help you out there. It’s called 101 Health and Wellness Tips for College Students, and has some really great ideas about how to make healthy eating and exercise part of your daily routine, as well as tips about illness, mental and sexual health, and even some suggestions about staying healthy while you study abroad.

Here are my favorite 5 of their 101 tips (with my annotations!):

1. Make it convenient to eat right. It’s hard to eat right when all you have stashed around for emergency hunger pangs are Doritos and chocolate. I noticed that bringing home extra fruit from the caf or even just buying healthier cereal to snack on made a big difference for me!

2. Walk to class. I personally think this is the easiest way to incorporate exercise into a busy lifestyle-in fact, I noticed that I gained a lot of weight when I started my desk job, and the only difference was that I wasn’t walking to class!

3. Understand that lack of sleep can have a big impact. It took me a while to figure this out, so learn it early! Lack of sleep not only means trouble paying attention in class or accidental naps during study time, it also really affects you emotionally . Lack of sleep can aggravate depression or homesickness, plus it tends to make you irritable–so get the sleep you need!

4. Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. RNCentral put this under the “sexual health” category, but really this advice applies to a lot of different college situations. If at any time you find yourself uncomfortable–with a topic being discussed in class, in a situation with a roomie/significant other/teacher/professor, or even just at a party–don’t allow other people’s opinions to pressure you. This is really hard, but also really important!!!

5. Put limits on work hours. Set a schedule for work–and really stick to it–but don’t forget to give your mind a break. I usually worked on homework/studying until 8pm (unless I had midterms and finals) and then finished up for the night. Figure out when your mind is most active, and set your work time within those hours. When you start to wear out, know when to take a break!

Check out RNCentral for the rest of the 101 tips.

photo: Blackberry strawberry cherry owen-wahl fruit by robert owen-wahl

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• What to Expect Your First Week of College
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• My Roommate is Sick, Now What?

Entry Filed under: health