The Journal

Give me some grease with that tub of butter I am about to consume.

Order out and that's what you're basically telling the pizza guy on the other end of the line, because you're certainly not getting any nutrition. What you are getting is a heap of fat and an unnecessary amount of calories.

This country has some of the worst eating habits out of any other in the world.
According to statistics by the Obese Society, 64 percent of Americans are obese. In Missouri, the obese comprise 28.5 percent of the population.

Americans are not getting any smaller and the trend doesn't look any brighter around college campuses.

Webster University makes no effort to shrink these expanding waistlines. Just visit the University Center and take a trip to World of Wings Café and Wingery (WOW) or Blimpie.

WOW wins the prize for the most unhealthy menu items. A fried buffalo chicken wrap is 975 calories with 55 grams of fat. If you get it grilled, you save only 155 calories, consuming 820 calories with 48 grams of fat. And that's just one item. If you eat sides with it, your whole daily caloric intake is finished.

So people might say to themselves, "I'll just have a salad."

What they don't get is when you add the eight ounces of dressing to the leafy greens, the healthy veggies have turned into nothing but fat drenched yard clippings. The Kentucky Club or Buffalo Chicken salad at WOW has only 372 calories with 28 grams of fat. However, add only two ounces of ranch dressing and it adds an extra 219 calories.

No one adds two measly ounces of dressing to their salad. Nothing tastes better than creamy, ranchy goodness. But, let's face it, only a small amount of people exercise a little portion control.

The worst part of the campus food dilemma is a complete absence of nutrition information. The caloric havoc these foods can potentially wreak on our bodies should not be a secret. We are paying for it and we have a right to know exactly what we put in our mouths.

If these hard facts were staring us in the face, I guarantee students would think twice before sinking their teeth into these fatty foods.

If you think you are doing yourself any justice by choosing Blimpie because of their "fresh" subs, you couldn't be more wrong.

For God's sake, the word "blimp" is in the company's name. So get out of there before your ass goes totally Hindenburg!

The worst choice is a foot long meatball sub sandwich, weighing in at 1,185 calories. The runner up? A foot-long Blimpie's Best coming in at 840 calories. Sure, no one really needs a foot long, but I see many people stroll out of there with 12" sandwiches because they haven't had time to eat in awhile.

If consumers could see those numbers right in front of them, maybe they would opt for a six-inch. Of course, six inches are much better for you as long as you leave all the tasty sauce and cheese off of it and then you are left with a bland and naked sandwich.

Bon appétit.

Unfortunately, convenience overtakes health and students just want to eat and they want to eat now. It's easier to get a foot long because you can always snack on it later.

Marletto's is a convenient place for many students, especially residents, but even they offer no nutritional information. Pizza, fries and burgers are popular items sold at the café, but nowhere in the entire place is there any information on what is in it and how unhealthy it is for students.

I give them kudos for offering a salad bar, but when they offer all the extra junk on the side it defeats the whole purpose of eating healthy.

So what's the solution to this dietary
dilemma?

Offer healthier choices. It's not a hard thing to do.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis has established a New Balanced Choices Program. It allows students to learn healthier ways of eating and it shows them exactly what is in the foods they order. This is an excellent idea that should be expanded to all universities in St. Louis.

Washington University has nutrition information available for students to access online. WashU offers more vegetables, salads and low fat soups than WU by a long shot. Clearly, WU is behind the times with health and nutrition.

WU needs to become proactive in the health of all its students. Give students nutrition facts. Let us know what goes in the foods we buy and expand our eating options.

The truth can be hard to swallow, but if people are faced with these numbers the health of this university could improve greatly.

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