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All over the world, students have a reputation for eating nothing but unhealthy instant meals and other fast food. However, recent studies show that this dodgy image is not necessarily valid. From intermittent fasting to going vegetarian or vegan, students are embracing healthier lifestyles. There is another side to the story though…
Research shows positive evolutions
- A UK survey found that one in 10 students in the UK are vegetarian, which is twice as many as the general population.
- Another study concluded that one in five students have “favourable eating behaviours”, which include moderate snacking, consuming little fast food, and eating a lot of fruit and vegetables.
- Also, students are drinking less alcohol than they did 10 years ago. This is particularly good news because evidence suggests that we establish our drinking habits during young adulthood and maintain them.
But there is another side to the story…
Good news, you might think. On the other hand, we can clearly see that students, despite a growing awareness of healthy eating habits and lots of good intentions, still fail to eat healthily on a daily basis. Student life turns out to be far from ideal for making healthy choices. Research shows that generally students still don’t eat very healthily.
Researchers found that students are more likely to gain more weight than people their age who don’t go to university. So are students’ drinking habits still affecting their diets? They’re more likely to eat after drinking alcohol, and more likely to eat calorific foods high in salt and sugar. We all know that If someone’s out drinking, they’re not going to search for healthy options, nor do many bars or restaurants that are open late have many healthy options.
The reasons why students don’t eat healthily
In the end, committing to healthy eating habits is something students have to organize from within their own student housing. They have the knowledge, there is no lack of motivation, and the only problems are practical. As a starter, most students lack the competence to cook healthy meals. They are working hard to become a doctor, not a chef.
Most haven’t been paying attention at home when mom and dad were cooking neither. Combine this lack of competence with a lack of kitchen utensils and a lack of time for buying and preparing the right ingredients, and you know the little practical problems add up to an unhealthy lifestyle without students deliberately choosing it.
Healthy ready-to-eat as the solution
At Naturis, we get more and more requests from food producers to develop ready-to-eat meals for a healthy younger generation. Our R&D team has been making it a life goal to make healthy instant food accessible for everyone, including students. This way, you can meet their demand for healthy food options that take little time to cook and are still affordable. Because in the end, the correct price is probably as important as the quality of your product. At Naturis, we can help you to make this delicate mix of price, quality, and healthy ingredients.
Contact us
Are you a food company looking for new ideas, solutions or tailor-made ingredients for innovative applications? Are you a distributor or wholesaler interested in our products and applications? Are you interested in private labeling? Contact us today at info@naturis.com or give us a call at +32 477 90 06 72.
