Students often do not have the time to sit down to a balanced meal. Between juggling classes and studying, they are lucky if they get to eat at all, let alone consume sufficient nutrition.

"We don't always eat in the dining halls," said Jill Merchant (junior-nutrition and exercise science). "We need quick food."

But when students get the chance for a sit-down meal, they need to eat the right foods. The University's dining halls offer a range of meals that are meant to provide a nutritional diet, said Lisa Wandel, assistant director of Food Services.

Food Services takes student input into consideration when planning the menus, Wandel said. Every spring, a committee visits each dining hall and asks students their opinions about the food and takes suggestions and concerns, she said.

"Students have told us that they want more fat-free salad dressings and that they are concerned about nutrition," Wandel said. "They also said they like the salad bars and having the option to eat the healthy cereals and use the wok stations. Even if they don't use the alternatives, they seem glad that we offer them."

Dining hall meals can be nutritious if students eat the right things in the correct quantities, said Michele Volansky, a member of the Nutrition Peer Education Program. Students need to stay away from excess fat and calories but they can still enjoy the meals, Volansky said.

Here are some of NuPep's tips to healthy dining hall eating:

-- Watch out for foods that appear to be low-fat when they really are high-fat. The frozen yogurt is made from whole milk and the cottage cheese is regular 4 percent fat, not low-fat.

-- Do not eat just salad if you want to lose weight. There are many low-calorie, nutritional entrees offered, such as grilled chicken, roast turkey, plain vegetables and baked potatoes, pasta, tuna without mayonnaise and unsweetened cereals.

-- Beware of prepared foods. Coleslaw, pasta salads with mayonnaise and taco salads are high in fat, and stuffing is high in both fat and sodium.

-- If you have a sweet tooth, split a dessert with a friend or eat some fruit.

-- Leave when you finish your meal. Many students tend to sit around and talk. The longer you sit near food, the more you are tempted to go up for one more ice cream cone.