Health and Human Services Professional Development

                                                                    Omnipresence of Sugar By Shaun Hurdelbrink and Natasha Cole, MPH, RD on April 28, 2015 Are you aware of sugar’s omnipresence in your life or how much you truly consume? Added sugar is found in many foods: breakfast cereals, fruit juices, granola bars, ketchup, BBQ sauce, soymilk, energy drinks, protein bars, etc. You get the idea. Unsurprisingly, Americans consume “an average of more than 500 calories per day from added sugar alone.” 1  Not only do added sugars themselves contribute several hundred calories daily, but sugar’s low nutritional value makes people “continue to feel hungry” after consuming them. 2  Sugar not only contributes to obesity around the world, but it is also linked to other health problems such as: hypertension...

   Eat Oats for Breakfast and Get a Move On!         By Shaun Hurdelbrink and Natasha Co le Before college, eating healthy and staying physically active was a straightforward, stable routine for me. Cereal in the morning, PB&J for lunch, cross-country or swimming as exercise, then a well-balanced dinner made by mom or dad. College, however, was a whole new lifestyle and it became challenging to eat the healthy foods I wanted to and stay active. Many college students tend to face similar situations and gain weight over the course of their first few years on campus. According to NRC Research Press, “about 70% [of 131 college students studied] gained weight, averaging 11.7 ± 9.1 lbs.”1 Despite the great variation in the study’s results, there was nonetheless an upward trend in bodyweight and BMI throughout college students.                       However, there are s...