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| Students walking to class |
Here are some of the things we learn from the article:
80% of undergraduates and medical students at Stanford University qualified as sleep-deprived, according to a survey conducted there—and sleep plays a crucial role in learning and memory.
50% of students eat too much fat, and 70-80% eat too much saturated fat, according to a survey at Tufts University—and, as the article states, “They may literally be eating themselves stupid. Researchers have known since the late 1980s that bad eating habits contribute to the kind of cognitive decline found in diseases like Alzheimer’s.”
44% of today’s college students drink enough to be classified as binge drinkers, according to a nationwide survey of 10,000 students done at Harvard University — and we now know that even limited overindulgence with alcohol can produce long-term negative effects on the brain.
According to the National Mental Health Association, even one night of heavy drinking can impair your ability to think well for up to 30 days.
A USA Today article comments, “All this news makes you wonder how anyone’s ever managed to get an education.”
And the article doesn’t mention stress, anxiety, and depression:
More than 29% of college freshmen reported often feeling overwhelmed by school, and emotional health is at a record low, according to a UCLA study.
Nearly 45% of women and 36% of men reported feeling so depressed it was difficult to function, according to a National College Health Assessment.
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| Meditation for Anxiety |
College is supposed to be about learning. We know the factors that impair learning—stress, loss of sleep, alcohol, poor diet. Ironically, these are just the things that characterize the culture on many college campuses.
