Savvy, health-conscious college students already know that binging on dining hall cuisine is bad and going to the gym is good. They also know that drinking copious amounts of alcohol multiple times a week is a bad idea. A recent study performed by health experts around the globe has seemingly reiterated the facts that we might have thought we already knew: that processed food, alcohol and overeating can lead to obesity. But Joseph Anderson, a gastroenterologist at the UConn Health Center, has added a chilling postscript to this information: obesity has a strong association with colorectal cancer.
"One-fifth of all colorectal cancer in women is related to obesity," Anderson said. "Why is this important? One, because obesity is on the rise - it's an epidemic in almost every state. And two, because although the association between obesity and colorectal cancer had been worked out before, our study was the first to show how strong and important the correlation was."
The risks of becoming obese are present everywhere, but on a university campus like UConn's, it can be especially hard to avoid certain bad habits. The first concern for most students is, understandably, the infamous dining hall food.
"I'm really glad I live off campus now, because I don't have to eat all of the processed food from the dining hall, and I can ration myself a lot better," said Kaila Most, a 5th-semester English and women's studies major.
"Dining halls offer a lot of processed food and a lot of starch," Anderson said. "This is what gives you visceral fat, the kind of fat that causes a big waist. This is the fat that increases insulin and can also cause diabetes." To keep the bad effects of the processed food in check, Anderson recommends students limiting themselves to "one vice" a day.
What falls under that category may surprise some students. According to Anderson, "a vice is anything with a lot of simple sugar or starch-cake is a vice, but so is a bagel, or a roll." If you can't keep yourself away from bagels, Anderson recommends exercise to counteract the extra pounds.
"I'll get a bagel about three times a week," said Sarah Kwon, a 3rd-semester pharmacy major. "But I think it's ok, because I also go to the gym."
When in doubt, the gym is always a good idea to cancel out the combination of overeating and poor food quality. "If you exercise at least once a day, then you can usually have more than one vice and the pounds will still stay off," Anderson said. "Your late 20s is when you gain the most weight, so you'll want to set the pattern of exercising early in life."
And as for the other ever-present campus threat, alcohol, Anderson vehemently opposes heavy drinking. "Alcohol is not beneficial in any shape or form," he said. While "one glass of red wine a day" would be considered an adequate vice, "beer four nights a week" is certainly harmful.
"It requires a little sacrifice to be healthy," said Anderson. "But the bottom line is, it's worth it. The association between obesity and colorectal cancer is very strong."
Contact Jessica Silber at Jessica.Silber@UConn.edu.
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