ssues & ideas EDITOR KERA PIWOWARSKI-SKOCYLAS THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015 7 Balancing can D ep | OWEN MUNRO photo Jan Liu, financial management student at Langara College studies for a class with a friend on campus at the library. Students don't have any time to party Demanding work and school schedules leave little free time for fun By OWEN MUNRO ith the end of spring semes- ter at Langara College quickly approaching, some students say they are hav- ing a difficult time balancing every- thing that is required. A recent study conducted at the Uni- versity of California, Los Angeles found that post-secondary students are spending less time partying and social- izing than ever before. Desiree Symons, a Langara psychol- be difficult for students Fooled by hidden food chemicals Some students find it dif- ficult to figure out labels and know what foods are good for their waistlines By REBECCA PHAIR food options in grocery stores, to- day’s marketing is masking un- healthy chemicals in food - making it difficult for students to decipher what is truly healthy versus what appears to be healthy said a Langara instructor. Patricia Aroca-Ouellette, a chemis- try instructor at Langara College, re- cently held an event that discussed the chemistry behind healthy foods. There is a lot of ambiguity in what is truly healthy and what may be claimed as healthy while harbouring unhealthy chemicals, she said. According to Aroca-Ouellette, the worst culprits hide in so-called diet- friendly foods. “The hidden chemicals may actually be programming your body to retain fat,” she said. For example, a chemical called r4 4 olestra is frequent- . ly found in fat-free The hidden foods. Olestra pre- chemicals vents your body from | absorbing May actu- Di what seems like healthy ogy student said she has both full-time school and work and can rarely do any- thing else. “IT don’t go out and party because I don’t have time, I basically am trying to balance doing well in school - and I live on my own so I have to earn money to make rent and survive,” she said. Janice Hawk, a retired Mission school district aboriginal liason, said students need to find a way to balance studying and life outside of school. “You need to sanction positive rela- tionships with like-minded people with a good sense of humour,” Hawk said. “Do most kids see that? I think kids who go to college do.” Jasmine LeBlanc transferred to UBC from Langara at the beginning of the school year, said she has noticed the more intense workload at UBC and how it has affected her social life. “T didn’t see my best friend for two months because of balancing work and school,” LeBlanc said. “It’s pretty diffi- cult balancing four classes and work- ing 17 hours a week. There’s just not enough hours in a week.” HOW to balance 1 Get organized -use a calander 2 Get plenty of sleep -limit late night work 3 Reward yourself -give youself credit Source: Workopolis.com fats, thus making - food with it mar- ally be Pp ro ketable as “fat Qrammuig free,” she said. your bo dy The problem is . that this chemical £0 retain also prevents the body from absorb- ing other fat-solu- ble nutrients Aro- ca-Ouellette said. fat PATRICIA AROCA-OUELLETTE LANGARA Hidden chemi- CHEMISTRY cals make it harder INSTRUCTOR than ever to make CHARLOTTE DREWETT photo Fiona Ku (left) pictured with Tenzin Yangchen (centre) and Norbu Dolma, said she doesn’t have time to worry about diets. “Eat healthy and be active,” Ku said. Young girls dieting at earlier ages Some Langara students are finding it hard to manage their schedules to include healthy eating By JOCELYN ASPA lenge for many college students, especially when there’s pressure to look a certain way. The National Eating Disorder Infor- mation Centre released information estimating around 40 per cent of nine- year-old girls have gone on diets to lose weight. However, many Langara stu- dents said they feel more stressed to look a certain way now that they are in college. “T currently feel more pressure than I did back then,” said Jennah Lay, a general arts student. Lay balances school and an active lifestyle by running and kickboxing twice a week. She said she has always eaten relatively healthy, but still feels pressure from magazines and adver- tisements on television to “have a cer- tain look.” Stephanie Lam, a kinesiology stu- dent, said she tries eating healthy be- cause she doesn’t get the chance to play as many sports as she used to. Lam said the amount of time she Here a balanced diet is a chal- gets to the gym these days fluctuates depending on what else she has to do. “Sometimes I feel guilty when my friends go to the gym and I don’t,” said Lam. “So, I eat healthy instead.” 4 r4 She said when she was in high school she __ fre- Talw ays quently compared thought I herself to her sister. was f at, “She was skinny. but Iwas I always thought I just was fat, but I was just average,” said average Lam. “How we present STEPHANIE LAM jurselves is the LANGARA One thing that ev- KINESIOLOGY eryone sees. The STUDENT body is always on display,’said Peter Crocker, a UBC school of kinesiology professor. “For women, there’s a lot of pressure on them to appear physically attrac- tive,” he said. To promote a healthy body image, Crocker said it’s important to educate both girls and boys at a young age. “A lot of it has to do with having a supportive background,” said Crocker. “And that you’re far more than what you look like.” healthy choices, Aroca-Ouellette said. The marketing appeals to both the con- venience and ‘diet friendly’ needs of many consumers, she said. Nazgol Abrishami, general studies student at Langara, said she wants to eat natural food with no chemicals, but finds it difficult to figure out the labels. “It’s really hard to figure out the names of ingredients on the label,” she said, “they are complicated words.” While other Langara students like Konner Meyer, general studies student, said he doesn’t worry about chemicals. “There’s a lot of overblown misinfor- mation out there about it,” he said. Juggling a busy lifestyle and making healthy choices with adding the chal- lenge of unseen chemicals, makes healthy eating increasingly difficult Aroca-Ouellette said. She recommend- ed eating plenty of fresh fruits and veg- etables and selecting foods seasonally. “Eat natural. If you go zero calorie or fat-free you go against nature.” CHARLOTTE DREWETT photo Healthy options with no added chemicals are available on campus.