Nourishment
Nourishment and Body Image
Nourishment
While nourishing, local food choices are readily available across campus, we realize your demanding schedule might make it difficult to choose these options. We provide practical tips and real-life strategies to help you fuel your mind and body.
We also recognize that food insecurity is a problem that many of our students face. According to the 2024 National College Health Assessment, 37.8% of Rochester undergraduate students and 32.1% of graduate students reported having low or very low food security. . If this is something you also struggle with, consider checking out the on-campus Food Pantry! The Food Pantry is open to all undergraduate and graduate students (more information below on hours and what’s available!).
Our line-up of nourishment and body image programs teach students that nutritious food can be Easy, Affordable, and Tasty. Check out our online program and cooking demonstration below.
Mindful Eating
What is Mindful Eating?
Mindful eating is a holistic experience that engages our body, heart, and mind in the entire process of choosing, preparing, and consuming food. It involves deliberately immersing ourselves in the sensory details of eating, such as the colors, textures, scents, tastes, and sounds of our food and drinks (JC Bays, 2017). By being fully present and appreciating the food we consume, we shift our perspective to see food as a source of enjoyment rather than negativity or shame.
If you are more of an experiential and visual learner, watch this video to learn more about mindful eating.
Why Practice Mindful Eating?
Research has shown that mindful eating can help cultivate increased awareness of hunger and fullness (Hutchinson and Wilson, 2012), higher body-esteem (Keyte et al., 2022) enhanced self-compassion (Shaw and Cassidy, 2021), better gut health (Cherpak, 2019), better focus, and less tendency to stress-eat by reducing negative emotions (Torske et al., 2024).
Ways to Try Mindful Eating at Home
Our 9-day Mindful Nourishment Challenge is currently being updated. In the meantime, explore some mindful eating tips below.”
- Practice the PAUSE acronym before you eat
- The PAUSE acronym is coined by Dr. Susan Albers and it stands for: Present, Awareness, Understand, Savor and Enjoy.
- Present: Stop multitasking. If you eat, just eat.
- Awareness: Ask yourself, how physically hungry I am?
- Understand: How are my feelings impacting my food choice?
- Savor: Take a mindful bite, smell, taste, touch, listen!
- Enjoy: Are you really enjoying this bite?
- Note that the above can all be done very quickly as you are busy and on-the-go! But small steps often make a huge difference.
- The PAUSE acronym is coined by Dr. Susan Albers and it stands for: Present, Awareness, Understand, Savor and Enjoy.
- Turn off technology around you while you enjoy a meal
- Many of us watch videos or shows, or text while we eat, but screen content can easily be a distraction to feeling what our body is feeling
- If you could in the next meal, make the food your TV. Watch the aroma, savor the taste, hear the sound in your mouth. And notice the difference, without judgment.
- Being more aware when you are hungry
- Check out the Hungry and Fullness Scale to learn about how a body typically feels at different levels of hunger.
- Recognize the difference between Emotional and Physical Hunger: Emotional hunger often comes on suddenly and urgently, and usually one craves a specific food. Physical hunger is often more gradual, open to many options, and would stop when you are full.
- Cultivate gratitude towards food that is being served to you from soil to table
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- Take a moment to express gratitude for your food. Reflect on where it came from and the effort that went into getting it to your plate.
- Develop a closer relationship with mother earth by trying forest bathing, geocaching, and earthing.
Mindful Nourishment Online Program
Launching in Fall 2024, the new Mindful Nourishment Challenge invites you to immerse yourself in daily mindfulness practices centered around your eating habits. Each day, you’ll explore topics that encourage a more intentional approach to meals—whether it’s turning off distractions during lunch, becoming attuned to your hunger cues, remembering to PAUSE before eating, or cultivating gratitude for the food on your plate.
This challenge also provides a space for reflection on your past eating behaviors, offering the opportunity to transform your relationship with food. As you participate, you may find yourself looking forward to meals as moments to savor, deepening your connection with your body. Throughout the challenge, you’ll uncover the links between emotions and eating patterns, fostering acceptance and kindness toward yourself.
Sign up for our newsletter to get information when it’s launched!
Body Image
Based on data from the University of Rochester’s Spring 2024 National College Health Assessment, we found that over the past 12 months, 27.5% of cisgender men, 44.1% of cisgender women, and 55% of transgender and gender non-conforming students reported facing challenges related to personal appearance. Additionally, 2.5% of cisgender men, 2.2% of cisgender women, and 5% of transgender and gender non-conforming students indicated that they had been diagnosed or treated for an eating disorder during the same period. Of those who experienced an eating disorder, 30.8% of cisgender men, 20% of cisgender women, and 50% of transgender and gender non-conforming students reported a negative impact on their academic performance. Moreover, among those who had ever been diagnosed with an eating disorder, only 50% of cisgender men and 71.4% of cisgender women sought care from a healthcare or mental health professional in the last year.
At the Health Promotion Office, we promote body neutrality, which encourages individuals to value their bodies for their abilities rather than their appearance. This philosophy aligns with the Health at Every Size® (HAES®) principles, which focus on behaviors that foster health—such as intuitive eating and joyful movement—without making weight the primary goal. Research supports this approach, showing that HAES interventions improve both physical and mental health, including reductions in blood pressure, cholesterol, and eating disorder symptoms, independent of weight loss. By prioritizing self-compassion and healthy habits over weight, we aim to create a culture that embraces diverse bodies and fosters health equity.
We challenge the belief that weight is the sole indicator of health. Studies demonstrate that health is influenced by many factors, such as genetics, mental health, and access to resources—not just body size. Focusing exclusively on weight can perpetuate harmful stereotypes and ignore the significance of behaviors like balanced nutrition, joyful movement, stress management, and sleep. This is where Body Neutrality and the HAES® framework become essential.
For more information on weight stigma, HAES®, and what UHS is doing to combat weight bias, visit the Weight Bias page.