Spring Break
Health and wellness event asks students to consider a better breakfast than cereal
Ya-an Chan
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: News
As students walked near the barbecue area on Paseo de Cesar Chavez on Wednesday morning, life-size walking mascots of a carrot, a banana and a cartoon of milk asked them, "Have you had breakfast yet?"
With a free, hot bowl of oatmeal in their hands, students then walked from table to table to see displays of maps, flags, breakfast-related information and food from Asian, European, African, North American and South American countries.
Great Global Breakfast, hosted by the Nutrition Education Action Team of SJSU Wellness and Health Promotion to raise student awareness of eating breakfast, exposed students to various breakfast examples from all over the world.
Jennifer Waldrop, a wellness and health promotion coordinator, said that by showing students examples of breakfast from all over the world, students may be able to find food that is familiar to them from their childhoods or to incorporate these examples into their morning diet.
"I think students perceive that eating breakfast requires a lot of time," Waldrop said. "They could learn from the event that breakfast can be fast and nutritious."
The attendance flow has been good since 9 a.m. and most students walked to the barbecue area after receiving fliers, said Nutrition Education Action Team members Kathy Bourque and Asha Koshy at the Europe table. Bourque and Koshy are junior and senior nutrition and food science majors, respectively.
Monserrat Vargas, a senior biology major who visited the South America and the Africa tables, said she gained new knowledge and saw familiar breakfast ideas such as eggs, rice and beans from her home country of Mexico.
"I learned that Africans have some seeds that are also used by South Americans for breakfast," Vargas said, "and I asked how they prepare the seeds."
Jodi Richards, a junior nutrition and food science major who visited the Europe table, said she noticed a difference between European-style breakfast and her typical American one.
With a free, hot bowl of oatmeal in their hands, students then walked from table to table to see displays of maps, flags, breakfast-related information and food from Asian, European, African, North American and South American countries.
Great Global Breakfast, hosted by the Nutrition Education Action Team of SJSU Wellness and Health Promotion to raise student awareness of eating breakfast, exposed students to various breakfast examples from all over the world.
Jennifer Waldrop, a wellness and health promotion coordinator, said that by showing students examples of breakfast from all over the world, students may be able to find food that is familiar to them from their childhoods or to incorporate these examples into their morning diet.
"I think students perceive that eating breakfast requires a lot of time," Waldrop said. "They could learn from the event that breakfast can be fast and nutritious."
The attendance flow has been good since 9 a.m. and most students walked to the barbecue area after receiving fliers, said Nutrition Education Action Team members Kathy Bourque and Asha Koshy at the Europe table. Bourque and Koshy are junior and senior nutrition and food science majors, respectively.
Monserrat Vargas, a senior biology major who visited the South America and the Africa tables, said she gained new knowledge and saw familiar breakfast ideas such as eggs, rice and beans from her home country of Mexico.
"I learned that Africans have some seeds that are also used by South Americans for breakfast," Vargas said, "and I asked how they prepare the seeds."
Jodi Richards, a junior nutrition and food science major who visited the Europe table, said she noticed a difference between European-style breakfast and her typical American one.
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