As a way of helping Colgate students maintain their health, the Shaw Wellness Institute provides students with the opportunity to meet with a dietician. At these appointments, students can discuss simple ways to eat healthy while at college. It can be difficult for students to transition to a lifestyle in which they have to make decisions of what to eat on their own; meeting with a dietician is one option provided to students to help them in this process.

This is the third semester that the Shaw Wellness Institute has provided students with the opportunity to meet with a dietician.

“The Shaw Wellness Institute is the college’s health promotion office,” Director of the Shaw Wellness Institute Thad Mantaro said. “We strive to create a community where students and staff lead healthy, balanced and purposeful lives across the eight dimensions of wellness.”

According to Mantaro, Colgate students are very interested in diet and nutrition, and he believes that this will be a way to help guide students in making smart choices in choosing nutritious foods.

“One of the four pillars of wellness is having an understanding of proper nutrition,” Mantaro said.

Shannon Hanby, program assistant of the Shaw Wellness Institute, agrees that giving students the opportunity to meet with a dietician is a helpful tool in allowing students to create healthy eating regimens.

“I think meeting with the dietician is beneficial to Colgate students because it helps them understand how to have a balanced diet while on campus,” Hanby said. “Whether a student is utilizing Frank or cooking in their own kitchen, students struggle with knowing what the best food options are.”

Dietician Janine Jaquays is available to meet with students who are interested in learning about making healthy food choices at Colgate. Appointments are available on Thursdays between 4 and 8 p.m. and are free of cost for Colgate students. Sodexo, the company in charge of the food served in Colgate’s dining areas, pays for this program with the dietician.

“Attempting to navigate college dining halls and the supermarket can be stressful for some, so having the chance to discuss your dietary needs and goals with a certified dietitian can really help students manage and plan what they are eating, and can inspire healthy habits,” said senior Jessica Staley, a center programming intern at the Shaw Wellness Institute.

Staley believes that students will be able to take what they learn and not only apply it to their diets here, but to the way that they eat in the future as well. As an intern at the Shaw Wellness Institute, Staley is in charge of several programs, such as a new speed-dating event that will occur this semester. She and a counselor are also working together on a new physical education program called the Colgate Body Project, which aims to get people to think positively about their body types.

While nutrition and healthy consumption of food are important components of a person’s well being, the Shaw Wellness Institute aims to promote students’ holistic health in all different kinds of ways.

“We provide health and wellness education through programs and services we offer directly, and also through participation in campus alcohol and other drug prevention efforts, bystander intervention programming, sexual health programming, healthy eating and stress reduction programming, among many others,” Mantaro said.