Off to university!!  So exciting!!

Is someone in your family off to university in the next week or two. This is such an exciting time.  Setting off into the big wide world to learn new things, meet new people and finally be making their own way without parents watching their every move.

It does mean that they will have to look after themselves and that includes all the shopping and cooking.  Being a dab hand at cooking a meal for the family or baking a cake is one thing but feeding themselves every day at uni is a bit more of a challenge than cooking in parents’ well equipped kitchen from a well stocked fridge!  

Doing all their own food shopping and sticking to a budget, making do with the kitchen in halls or student digs has available, avoiding food poisoning and making sure that what is on the menu is enough to keep themselves you well enough to get through the term and exams could be a bit daunting.  

What do you think the student in your life is going to struggle with most? Tell me.

If they struggle with choosing what to eat, going shopping, cooking in unfamiliar surroundings then they may not eat well.

Helping your student get started with what they need to have in their kitchen and some tools to help them work out what they might eat for the week to create a good shopping list can be a really helpful first step to better student eating. Share these templates with your student.

A bit of forward planning helps save money, reduces waste and means that there is usually food available to make a meal. Less emergency takeaways and ready meals which saves cash and can be healthier.

Nutrition is important – young bodies benefit from good food and it isn’t just about stuff that might happen to them decades from now!

• Eating a mixed, varied diet with regular meals makes gives a feeling of more energy.  Better for studies.  Better for exams. Better for social life!!

• It helps concentration.  

• It is good for the immune system.  Universities are easy places for viruses and bacteria to spread.  Eating well can’t stop picking up these things or getting ill.  However, not eating well makes it much harder for the body’s immune system to do its job effectively.  As a result, it could mean worse symptoms that hang around longer and recovery is much slower.  That makes life pretty dull.

• Eating well keeps us well and it shows. In your skin.  In your hair.  In your smile.  Feel well then it is easier to be at your best.  And that is the most you can ask for.  

• Knowing how to eat well helps to fuel students for exams.  It can’t take away stress but it can be a small part in keeping it under control.