International students experience a lot of changes when they study at the U. Nebraska-Lincoln, but the biggest change might be in their waists.
Students may find keeping up their normal dietary habits difficult. Some international students have realized a slight increase in weight after their move to the United States. The higher-calorie foods here seem to be the answer to the mysterious gain.
There seems to be a minor problem with American cuisine — it’s fatty, said Wanda Marie Koszewski, an extension associate professor in nutrition and health sciences.
Koszewski said people need proper fats in their diets, not the kind found in fast food. In addition, the majority of American fast food and American dining in general has far too many calories, she said.
Some international students believe there are multiple causes leading to weight gain.
Xingya Fu, a sophomore economics major from Chengdu, China, came to UNL in August 2009. She gained a few pounds after the move, and attributes the change to the availability of fattening fast food with far more calories than the food she is used to.
Fu said the food she ate in China usually included steamed vegetables or rice and other healthy choices. But after coming to America to study, Fu couldn’t keep up the same eating habits.
“When I went back home for summer, my family didn’t even recognize me until I said it was me,” Fu said. “As I was getting ready to leave they told me, ‘Don’t eat all the American fast food,’ so I don’t gain weight.”
Nitin Ingale, a mechanical engineering graduate student from Maharashert, India, said he has had similar problems.
He said in India, much like in China, people walk a lot more or ride bikes, giving people miscellaneous physical activity outside of actual workouts. Frozen and microwaveable foods with non-nutritional meals and empty calories were contributing factors to weight gain, Ingale said.
Zhe Zhang, an electrical engineering graduate student from Mancheng, China, agreed. He came to UNL the same time as Fu and stayed the whole year.
Zhang said Americans simply do not walk as much as other cultures. It’s not that people here are lazy, there are just fewer chances to walk.
There are more cars in America, people drive everywhere and people have remote controls for everything — it just provides for less walking, Zhang said. However, Zhang didn’t gain as much weight as some because he stuck with the diet he used to have back home.
“I go to the supermarket and buy food and make the same dishes as in I used to in China,” he said. “So that was the main reason that I didn’t gain whole lot of weight.”
Along with calorie count and lack of exercise, many Americans also have problems with portion sizes, Koszewski said.
She said in Europe, people eat a big lunch and a light dinner, but in America it’s the opposite. This gives food less time to digest properly, she said.
With good variety of food groups in a diet, international students won’t gain as much weight.
That means if they go to the supermarket and buy the same foods they used to have back home, then changes won’t be as likely.
Koszewski said students should take advantage of Karen Miller, a registered dietician on campus, and should use the nutrition site www.pyramid.gov to help structure a proper diet.