Noshing on them McNuggets

Why is it that the most convenient foods are the unhealthiest?  When walking into a dining hall on campus, the easiest and quickest meals to grab consist of greasy pizza and oversized hamburgers.

This easy access to fat, oil and sweet foods is unfortunately putting students at a health risk when they come to college.

Before students start living at college they more than likely live at home and have someone else cooking for them. Living at home usually means a more well-balanced diet and healthier food intake, unless you are Stacey Irvine.

Stacey Irvine is arguably the unhealthiest 17-year-old the world has ever heard of. When she was 2 years old, her mother gave her a taste of her first chicken nugget. Since then, she refused to eat anything else.

Eating a favorite food is undeniably satisfying and can be somewhat indulgent, but having your favorite food every day for every meal for 15 years is a bit of an overkill.

But worst of all is where she's buying the chicken nuggets: her favorite distributor, McDonalds.

I understand that she has taken an unusual addiction to an unhealthy food, but she makes it worse by going to McDonalds. Tyson chicken nuggets in the frozen food section are healthier than those from the famous "Mickey D's."

It may have to do with the fact that getting food from the drive-thru is about a two minute process while preheating the oven, baking, and waiting for Tyson nuggets takes 15 minutes.

At first I thought Irvine was just lazy when it came to her food choice, but after having read that she refuses to eat anything else with the nuggets, and admits to never having tasted fresh fruits or vegetables, I decided she truly has a serious addiction conjured by the giant food companies of America — she is a victim.

Her mother gave up giving her anything else to eat years ago. With Stacey's constant consumption of chicken nuggets her health is at serious risk. She has been given the choice of changing her eating habits or dying.

When her doctor told her of her options regarding her health, it seemed to be somewhat of a wake-up call. Her mother hopes that one day in the near future she will be more like her siblings and adapt a more balanced diet.

With the exception of Stacey Irvine, children and students seem to eaty more healthfully at home because there is time to prepare a better meal with access to a larger variety of food. At school it is more difficult due to the lack of time, kitchen space and food budget.

Walking into a dining hall with limited time to eat and an even more limited food choice makes the hamburger or pizza look sufficient. Easy access to bad food is the number one health destroyer. Students, on campus, should schedule more time to eat or prepare their meals, or learn more about what is healthy and filling.

Using little adjustments like this will go a long way when it comes to health and weight watching. Reaching for the hamburger could become just as addicting as Stacey's first bite of chicken nuggets.