October 11, 2007

Purdue gives students online nutrition information tools

University dining area
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The NetNutrition Web site allows diners to click on menu items they consumed and in what quantity. Once entered, they receive instantaneous nutritional feedback, including the amount of consumed calories, fat, carbohydrates, cholesterol and protein. The software also calculates what percentage of the recommended daily allowance of each nutrient has been consumed.

NetNutrition received at least 350 hits its first day online.

Adam Gable, 18, of Peru, Ind., said the site is helpful to students worried about gaining the infamous "freshman 15" pounds.

"I love the food here, and I eat a lot of it," Gable said. "The site is a good tool to figure out if you have developed any nutritional problems. Of course, working out three times a week helps out, too."

Tabletop displays throughout the dining courts direct students to the NetNutrition site, housed on University Residences' "Sensible Eating" page, which has been offering students dietary and nutritional tips since March. Dining services personnel also have been demonstrating the Web site on laptop computers in the dining courts.

The system currently provides information on food items standard to all five dining courts: deli sandwiches, salad bar and grill items, waffles, breakfast bar, and beverages. University Residences continues to work with a food services management company, CBORD Inc., to break down, analyze and post more food items, including custom recipes unique to Purdue's dining courts.

"We wanted to introduce NetNutrition to students as quickly as possible, and we look forward to consistently ramping up the service," said Kathy Manwaring, assistant director of dining services. "We are moving forward one dining court at a time until we have as comprehensive a system as possible."

Each self-serve station in the dining courts has been labeled with photographs of everyday items to further help students identify a proper serving size. A bar of soap is the size of an order of fries, a tennis ball is the size of a half-cup serving of fresh fruit, and a baseball equals a cup of Cheerios. Manwaring said those depictions can help students pursue the recommended strategy of eating whatever they like, but in moderation.

Victoria Watkins, 18, of West Lafayette, Ind., said her father, a professor in Purdue's Department of Food Science, drilled good nutrition habits into her since she was a young girl. But the biochemistry student expects to make regular use of the new tools to help her remain healthy.

"I'm eating healthier now than when I was in high school," Watkins said. "There's such a variety of food in the dining courts that it is easy to eat well."

Writer: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu

Sources: Kathy Manwaring, (765) 494-1000, kmanwaring@purdue.edu

Adam Gable, argable@purdue.edu

Victoria Watkins, vwatkins@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

PHOTO CAPTION:
Purdue sophomores, from left, Christina Roethemeyer and Elizabeth Shewmaker eat in one of the university's dining areas. Purdue University Residences has launched NetNutrition, an online service that provides the exact nutritional intake for meal items offered at on-campus dining courts. The nutrition information campaign also includes photographs at food service stations that depict proper serving sizes.  (Purdue News Service photo/Jim Schenke)

A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2007/NutritionNet.jpg

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