Student life poses unique health risks

If you are one of hundreds of thousands of young Filipino men and women who will attend college this year, you’ll find that the years in the academe are probably among the happiest and healthiest in your life. And why not? You still have all your hair, as well as all your marbles. Your abs are flat, your skin taut. On top of that, your résumés are too short to contain any major life derailments as yet.

That said, it is, however, also true that it’s never all rosy behind those campus walls. In life, college can be a time of increased health risks. You might become a binge drinker, for instance, which raises the odds that you’ll have unwanted sex, get pregnant, or acquire a sexually transmitted disease. You might develop eating problems – ingesting too much or too little. And despite all the good stuff that college offers, academic and relationship pressures may make you seriously depressed.

So here’s a primer to help college students start the year on the right note, avoid the major pitfalls and emerge from college not only educated but also healthy and wise.

Not Enough Sleep

If you are a serious student taking up a difficult college course, chances are you’re too busy to get enough sleep. In fact, one U S study showed that only 10 percent of college students got enough sleep to feel rested on all seven nights of the previous week, and 12 percent didn’t get enough sleep at all on any night. Sleep deprivation can be even worse for graduate students who study until the wee hours then get up early to go to school again.

Sleep loss doesn’t usually cause long-term medical problems, but it can adversely affect physical and intellectual performance, and mood. If you can’t sleep, one solution is to not try too hard – that can make things worse. Don’t drink alcohol or water, or smoke cigarettes near bedtime or have caffeinated drinks after midafternoon. If you have a chronic sleep problem, talk to a doctor at the health service about short-term use of sleeping pills.

Alcohol, Tobacco And Other Drugs

Moderate alcohol consumption – one drink a day for women, two for men – can actually be healthful: It may lower your risk of heart disease by 40 percent. But binge (also called high-risk) drinking can be disastrous. In the US, as much as half of college men and 40 percent of college women are binge drinkers, notes social psychologist Henry Wechsler, director of college alcohol studies at the Harvard School of Public Health. Binge drinking is defined as five drinks in a row for men, four for women.

The Harvard studies show that binge drinkers are 10 times more likely than moderate drinkers to have unplanned or unprotected sex, to cause personal injury and property damage, to miss classes and to have interpersonal problems. A 1999 study of UCLA students showed that 31 percent of binge drinkers (but only seven percent of moderate drinkers) had sex they regretted; three percent binge drinkers were assaulted or raped (versus zero percent of moderate drinkers).

As for tobacco, the Harvard studies show that smoking among young people has risen dramatically between 1993 and 1997, yet only 56 percent of college health services offer smoking cessation programs. The use of marijuana and other illicit drugs is also on the rise, at least on US campuses, and 90 percent of students who use marijuana also use other illicit drugs, smoke cigarettes or engage in binge drinking, the Harvard data show.

The bottom line? If you’re concerned about your own or a friend’s drinking, smoking, or other substance abuse, get help from the health service. If you live on campus, insist on staying in a smoke-free or substance-free dorm, if possible.

Sex And The Right To Say No

First and foremost, you always have the right to say no. "The most important thing, for women," says Janet Lever, a sociologist who studies sexuality at Cal State LA, "is that we know a lot of men are willing to say ‘I love you’ when it’s not true. They really just want to have sex." A man who really cares, she adds, "will stay until the relationship has deepened and you are ready."

Despite all the warnings, sexually transmitted diseases can become a serious health problem. For example, a study published this year by the American College Health Association, which surveyed 16,000 students from non-randomly selected schools, showed that one percent reported having had genital herpes in the past year; 1.4 percent said they’d been infected with the human papilloma virus (which causes cervical cancer) and nearly one percent had had chlamydia. In addition, 0.4 percent said that at some point, they had been diagnosed with HIV, and 0.8 percent said they had been infected with hepatitis B or C virus. (Hepatitis C is usually spread by contact with blood but can be sexually transmitted.)

Sexual victimization is also still a problem. A study published in December 2000 by the US Department of Justice found that 1.7 percent of college women have been raped. The American College Health Association study found a slightly higher rate, 2.2 percent. In our local setting, I am not aware of any study on the incidence of sexual diseases and sexual crimes among Filipino college students.

Mental Health

If you’re feeling anxious or depressed in school, take heart. A recent US college survey showed that a third of the students felt hopeless at least three times during the previous school year, 76 percent felt overwhelmed, and 22 percent felt so depressed they couldn’t function.

It’s crucial to remember that there are effective treatments for anxiety and depression, including psychotherapy and drugs, among them antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft or Paxil that combat anxiety and depression.

The message is simple: If you have felt very down for several weeks, have lost interest in regular activities, have persistent sleep or appetite disturbances, can’t concentrate, have diminished energy or have suicidal thoughts, go to your student center and ask for professional help. Some health services may offer stress management programs, as well.

Eating Problems

Roughly eight percent of US college students (most of them women) have some degree of anorexia nervosa ( in which sufferers fear weight gain yet are quite underweight) or bulimia (binge eating followed by purging). Another two percent are binge eaters who don’t purge.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, which teaches you to alter negative thoughts and behaviors, can help. So can antidepressant drugs, once you’ve regained normal weight. Obesity and just being overweight, though not psychiatric disorders, are also big problems, including on campuses. Many colleges have nutritionists who may be able to offer professional help.

Avoiding Injuries

One potentially serious problem is head injury. More than one-third of students in one study said they never wear a helmet while biking or motorcycling. That’s dumb. Why spend four years in college pouring facts into your brain, then wreck it in just one cycling accident?

The bottom line in all this, of course, is knowing where the dangers lie – and taking simple steps to avoid them so that you graduate smarter and healthier.