International students may gain, lose weight

By Danielle Pizmoht
FOR THE POST

When America can be called the Home of the Whopper, it comes as no surprise that many experts have found the United States to be one of the fattest countries in the world.

According to nutrition surveys conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, Americans are eating an extra 100 calories per day compared to what they consumed in 1991. In addition, the average American's weight has increased by 11 to 12 pounds since the 1970's.

Although the percentage of calories eaten as fat has dropped from 34 percent in 1991 to 33 percent in 1994, two-thirds of Americans are still getting more than 30 percent of their calories from fat.

An unhealthy diet high in fat and calories is not a problem for only Americans. A new study has found international students are also trying to balance good nutrition with dining hall food, buffets, and fast food restaurants that abound on college campuses.

David Holben, an assistant professor of human and consumer sciences in the College of Health and Human Services, and graduate student Hsin-Fen Chen conducted a study to see how international students' diets and waistlines change while in the United States. According to the study, which consisted of 22 international students enrolled at Ohio University, the subjects gained an average of three pounds and their body fat rose by about five percent after 20 weeks.

Diaries documenting each meal the students ate showed they had incorporated American foods high in salt, fat and sugar into their diets since their arrival.

According to the study, Holben confirmed that the changes in weight and diet among international students are similar to those seen in first-year students who sometimes gain weight adjusting to a new campus way of life.

Despite these findings, international students can avoid the fattening food American campuses offer, and many students have learned how to incorporate a healthy diet into their lives at OU.

Mikhail Dobrynin, a graduate student from Russia, said he noticed a slight change in his weight the first year he arrived at OU three years ago. Dobrynin ate at the dining hall his first year and said he was amazed at that he could eat whatever he wanted to, with no one setting limitations. This was something he did not have at home, and he never ate at a dining hall at his university in Russia.

Dobrynin said he did learn how to eat better during his three years in the United States, but now he laughs at the days when he ate a piece of cake every day after dinner.

For some international students, avoiding weight gain is as simple as eating the foods they ate in their home country.

Manshuk Imagalieva, a graduate student from Kazakhstan, said she has not noticed a significant change in her weight since her arrival to OU fall quarter. One reason for this is because she has maintained the same diet she had in Kazakhstan. Imagalieva said she has tried to stay away from fast food as much as possible, eating healthier foods such as fish, chicken, rice, and fruit.

Two other international students from China took the same approach. Qing Yong, a graduate student, has been at OU for more than a year and she has not noticed any weight increase. Yong is a vegetarian and eats a diet based on tofu, rice and noodles. She said it helps to prepare her own meals instead of eating at the dining halls.

The weight tables turn, however, when American students study abroad. Most students who studied overseas said they lost weight instead of gained weight.

Joanna Estep, an OU sophomore, studied in Japan for a little more than three months last fall quarter and noticed a definite weight loss.

Estep said she lost about eight to ten pounds during her three-month stay overseas. She said she attributed her change in weight to the different foods she ate in Japan. She drank mostly tea and water instead of soda.

"I found there wasn't a lot of fat in the foods I ate, such as rice and noodles," Estep said

Stacy Puzo, another OU sophomore, studied in Scotland for six months last year and also noticed weight loss while abroad.

She ate primarily vegetarian meals and prepared her meals at home, instead of eating at the dining hall.

"Grocery stores in Scotland provided a much wider selection of organic food, as well as more health-oriented foods than would be available at a regular grocery store in the U.S.," Puzo said.