Imagine the lifestyle of the average college student - what comes to mind?
According to a recent study from researchers at the University of Minnesota, it is one filled with small amounts of sleep, poor eating habits during the day and excessive drinking, drug use and sex at night.
But while such findings may suggest at first glance that college students live dangerous and unhealthy lives, Tufts health officials disagree. According to Margaret Higham, medical director of Tufts Health Service, college students as a whole are relatively healthy in comparison to the general public.
"I think a lot of the things they talk about are [problems for] all the population," she said.
One such example of a college health problem was weight. The University of Minnesota study, which surveyed 10,000 students across 14 campuses in Minnesota, found that 39 percent of students were overweight or obese.
But according to Higham, those statistics aren't as telling as they seem to be. She said to determine whether college students have poor health habits, one would have to compare obesity rates among college students with those nationwide.
"Looking at who's overweight and who's not, I don't think it would be a higher percentage of students who are overweight in college," she said. According to a 2005 survey by market research firm NPD Group, 62 percent of American adults are overweight or obese - 23 percent higher than the University of Minnesota survey found for the college population.
At Tufts, students admitted that maintaining healthy eating habits could be more difficult at college. Freshman Rebecca Goldberg said her eating habits were better in high school.
"I had more freedom choosing where I ate," Goldberg said of her high school years. "Your mom always tells you to eat your vegetables; [in college] you have that voice in your head but it's much easier to ignore it."
Students were divided over whether college presented obstacles to physical fitness.
"In high school I swam regularly; I don't anymore," sophomore Matthew Luz said. "I get a good amount [of exercise], but it wouldn't kill me to hit the gym one or two more times per week."
Goldberg found that the increased workload of college made finding the time and motivation to work out more difficult.
"I did fencing every winter [in high school], and I found it difficult to get involved in fencing [at Tufts], so I'm not doing it this semester," she said. "I ... felt too busy to do it."
Freshman Jack Dilday found that participating in a sports team in college helped him maintain a good workout schedule.
"I've been working out more because of baseball, and I've been getting stronger but at the same time, I've been getting a lot less sleep," he said. "It's definitely a toss-up."
Higham said sleep deprivation is one problem that college students face in a unique way.
"There's a culture of shifted or abnormal sleep patterns in the university setting which you wouldn't necessarily find in the population of young adults who are working," she said. Besides being overweight, Higham listed lack of sleep as a possible cause of poor academic performance.
Dilday explained that getting enough sleep and meeting the demands of a college environment can be a challenge.
"If I only did my work, then I would be able to sleep fine, but I want to be social too," he said. "To find the balance of getting enough sleep and doing well in school and having a good social life is hard ... especially at a school like Tufts, where it's so competitive."
Luz found that late classes were a boon to his sleep schedule: "If I didn't have the ability to wake up at noon, it would be bad because no one on my floor will shut up until about 3:00 [a.m.]," he said.
So what are students doing during their nighttime hours if not sleeping? According to the study, almost 80 percent reported being sexually active. While this statistic is not necessarily unhealthy, Higham explained that sex in college is prone to casual habits and is not as safe as it could be.
"The high rates of herpes and genital warts that we see [at Health Services] does reflect probably starting sexual activity earlier, and probably on average more frequent partner changes," she said. "Very few people use barriers consistently ... Given the number of students we see with herpes and HPV, I would consider [sexual activity] a health issue."
The study also found that 23 percent of women had reported being sexually assaulted, a number Higham said matched with national standards.
"Multiple large scale studies have shown that in young women of college age, about one in four have been the victim of some unwanted sexual advance," she said.
The Minnesota study also found high rates of alcohol use: 71 percent reported drinking, while 37 percent reported "high-risk" drinking.
Health Service Senior Director Michelle Bowdler found the statistics neither surprising nor telling.
"We know that college students drink; we want them to drink more safely," she said. "I think that there are a significant number of students who drink ... in a way that doesn't put them at risk. There are also students who binge drink."
According to the most recent Tufts Alcohol Study, to which 27.2 percent of Tufts undergraduates responded, 82.2 percent of undergraduates said that they drank alcohol.
Higham wasn't surprised at the numbers either, saying she found Tufts to be similar in health to other colleges.
"Talking to my peers in college health, I would say that Tufts students are right along with everyone else," she said.
