CU-Boulder may post nutritional guides in campus dining halls

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Students at the University of Colorado could start seeing basic nutritional guides posted inside the Boulder campus’ dining halls for the first time, although some health advocates at the school say doing so may be dangerous to students prone to eating disorders.

The new “Healthy Options Guide” currently under consideration at CU would forgo actual calorie counts in favor of providing suggestions for well-balanced meals, categorizing foods as “green light,” “yellow light” or “red light” based on such characteristics as vitamin, fat and caloric content.

But with Eating Disorder Awareness Week beginning Monday, some CU staff members are concerned that any such labels could lead to obsessive dieting or eating disorders among students on a campus that already is home to twice as many students with anorexia as the national average.

“(Nutrition labels) could potentially create an obsession among students or trigger students who struggle year after year with eating disorders,” said Lauren Heising, CU’s coordinator of sustainable dining .

By omitting detailed numerical information about each food — such as fat grams or calorie count — the hope is that students will be less concerned with losing weight and more concerned with creating a healthy and balanced diet, Heising said. But CU Community Health workers said they are skeptical about any program that labels food.

Currently, CU provides students with nutrition facts about campus foods only after they meet with a dietitian.

CU is the only school out of the six universities in the Big 12 North that does not provide detailed nutritional information to students, either online or through labels posted in the dining halls.

Brittney Rutherford, spokeswoman for dining services at Iowa State University, said her campus has made nutrition information readily available to students for as long as she can remember. She said she’s not aware of any health issues regarding weight or body image concerns as a result of posting those nutritional labels.

But statistics show that CU has more to be concerned about; the number of students struggling with eating disorders is nearly twice the national average, according to Robin Kolble, manager of Community Health. An American National Health Association survey showed 1.3 percent of college females nationally struggle with anorexia, but the number jumps to 2.8 percent at CU.

Senior Danielle Alberti has struggled with body issues her entire life. She has tried dieting, exercise programs and has even gone as far as withholding food completely in an attempt manage her weight. But nothing has worked.

Alberti’s weight has fluctuated drastically throughout her life, but one thing remained the same: her negative self-image. She said the last thing she wants is to have nutrition labels of any kind posted in dining halls or dorms, serving as a reminder of her imperfections.

“There is a stigma attached to what we eat and how we look,” Alberti said. “I think students have the right to information, nutrition or otherwise. But having that type of information in your face every time you go to a dining hall has the potential to trigger unhealthy eating habits or even eating disorders.”

Yet freshman Chris Atkinson said that, as an athlete, he is concerned with the nutritional value of the food being served on campus. Because that information not easily accessible for campus meals, he said he takes every opportunity to eat off-campus.

“I need to see the numbers,” said Atkinson, a member of the Colorado Crew rowing team. “It doesn’t need to be painted all over the wall, but it would be nice if they could post it online.”