The growing trend toward healthy eating is hitting the University's dining halls.

Students want a healthier diet because cardiovascular disease and cancers are linked to eating habits, said Jill Merchant (junior-nutrition and exercise science).

"I think it's becoming more important health-wise and not just an appearance thing," Merchant said. "And people will eat better if the dining halls change."

Food Services is making changes in its dining hall menus for next fall, said Barry Scerbo, director of Food Services. Entrees called "healthy alternatives" will be added, he said.

The healthy alternatives will be low in fat and calories, said Lisa Wandel, assistant director of Food Services. But items such as pizza and fried foods will not be cut from the menu, she said.

"We're going to offer the healthy choices and let the students decide," she said. "A lot of students are concerned but not ready to give some foods up yet."

Dining halls now offer a meatless alternative with every meal but that entree is not always popular with the students, Scerbo said, adding that vegetarians sometimes have to resort to the salad bar.

More strict vegetarian items without any dairy products, meat or eggs will be available, Wandel said.

"We're going to try to offer more but there is not a high percent of the population who wants this, so we'll still offer the other items of course," she said.

Student input is an integral part of planning the menu, Scerbo said.

"Students are more aware of nutrition and a healthy diet today, so they want changes," he said. "Our job is to give you what you want to eat."

Dining halls offer deli meats, cereals and the salad bar as alternatives to the planned menu. But some students have complained that those foods become boring, Scerbo said.

"Students are better educated about nutrition today," he said. "We're working on it."

To build a healthier menu, Food Services must get away from the high-fat casseroles and thick sauces, said Merchant, who is a member of the Nutrition Peer Education Program.

"The problem with the dinners is that there is too much stuff on the meat or the meat is too fatty," Merchant said. "They need more complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, rice and baked potatoes."

There have been requests for daily nutritive analysis for all dining hall meals as well as the healthy alternative, Scerbo said.

Food Services also plans to put a computer in each dining hall so students can look up the full nutritive breakdown of foods served every day, Scerbo said.

Labels listing fat, calories, cholesterol and other nutritive information may be placed next to each entree in case students do not use the computers, Wandel said.

Other universities are also beginning to change their dining hall menus. The University of Pennsylvania has a vegetarian nutritionist, and West Chester University offers a daily vegetarian dish without any meat or dairy products.