A closer look: Programs take a bite out of unhealthy eating habits
By Lauren Birchfield
Feb. 17, 2004 9:00 p.m.
UCLA students have the upper hand in the fight against gaining
the “Freshman 15,” thanks to the efforts of UCLA
Nutrition Education Coordinator Sheri Barke and the Student
Nutrition (& Body Image) Action Committee.
An action-oriented student group focused on minimizing the
prevalence of nutrition-related health problems ““ such as
eating disorders and poor nutrient intake on campus ““ SNAC is
devoted to helping students eat better, stay active, and live
healthier lives.
SNAC was developed in 2000 by the Eating & Activity Task
Force (EAT,) a cooperative comprising representatives from the
Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center, the UCLA Center
for Women and Men, Dining Services and other campus
departments.
The program offers a plethora of free classes, workshops and
services centered on nutrition, fitness and well-being.
“I came here to UCLA in 1998 as the only dietician for
36,000 students,” said Barke, founder and chair of both EAT
Force and SNAC.
“I needed to get students involved in order to make an
impact. SNAC fulfilled the EAT Force goal of training student
volunteers in nutrition so that they could then implement programs
for other students.”
In its first two months, SNAC was a small, informal group of
students who met every other week to discuss nutrition-related
issues on campus and to develop future goals.
A little over three years later, SNAC has developed into a
proactive student group driven by a three-fold goal: to challenge
the media’s ultra-thin ideals and spread the word that
healthy bodies come in all sizes; to dispel popular diet and
exercise myths while promoting sound nutritional advice; to
advocate for improvements in campus food and activity choices.
“Our goal was to develop a student group that would work
on nutrition-related health issues and help minimize the prevalence
of disordered eating and negative body images,” said Karen
Minero, a clinical psychologist and co-founder of SNAC as well as a
member of the EAT Force. “Our nutrition and fitness workshops
raise awareness of the media’s unrealistic obsession with
body image.”
Recently, SNAC has grown to incorporate two two-unit academic
courses that provide students with educational background in
nutrition and physical and emotional health.
SNAC Education (CHS 199) gives students the opportunity to
identify factors influencing college students’ eating
behaviors and perceptions of body images.
A prerequisite for SNAC Leadership (CHS 199,) the second of the
two courses, SNAC Education provides students with the training and
information they are required to have before participating in
leadership activities.
“SNAC Education encourages students to learn about
themselves and their own well being,” Minero said.
“They acquire a model of health education that they can
then translate and distribute to other students through
participation in SNAC Leadership,” she added.
Students involved in SNAC Leadership promote sound nutritional
advice and healthy body images through participation in programs
such as: Bruins Aiming Toward Healthy Lifestyles, SNAC Best Bites
and UCLA’s International NO Dieting Day.
Events and programs such as International NO Dieting Day and
Bruins Aiming Toward Healthy Lifestyles strive to celebrate the
diversity of body types and to warn against the dangers of
restrictive dieting.
“Real health is not what you look like physically but how
you aim toward health in all areas. You have to focus on the inside
to look good on the outside,” Minero said.
More information can be found at www.snac.ucla.edu.
