If pizza, cheeseburgers and wings were the way to a healthy body, Penn State students would have no need for the White Building.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.

In this nutritionally enlightened yet increasingly obese country, more than just incoming freshmen girls are worrying about that extra 15 pounds.

However, exploring healthier eating options is not part of most college students' daily routines.

When we left mom and dad at home, we also seemingly left their sense of nutritional balance.

Most of us do not have time to spend counting calories or fulfilling food pyramid requirements.

We must have time for classes, socials, meetings, work schedules, dates, and an occasional trip to the bar.

So we are depending on the restaurants to help us out with our health.

Most dining establishments have taken notice, and some fast food chains are beginning to jump on the bandwagon as well.

Fruit bowls, fat-free entrees and spinach leaves are appearing more frequently on menus, whether they are held in the hand or located above the counter.

Restaurants that have diversified their menus should be commended for giving customers an opportunity to choose healthier items.

And kudos to the restaurants offering side salads instead of fries or fruit instead of potato chips.

However, the items only matter when the patrons can afford the prices.

We are still left with the dilemma of whether to choose the cheap, unhealthy food or the more expensive, healthy alternative. Amidst the hustle and bustle of State College, most college students are lucky if they have enough time to stop for a quick bite to eat, let alone have the money to pay for it. Paying $5.08 for a sandwich, a drink and two cookies? Get real. And so we are left with a choice.

Either we succumb to the temptation of the dollar menu or we empty our pockets in exchange for a healthier but more expensive alternative.

We crave the $6 fruit bowl and grilled chicken salad, but a 99-cent junior bacon cheeseburger will do just fine when our money is at stake. Most items on a fast food menu, while convenient, cheap and tasty, are not healthy, plain and simple.

Sure you can munch on chicken nuggets for under a buck, but the long-term health effects are not even worth that dollar. We want to be healthy, but we don't want to be broke.

So help the poor college student out and figure out how to give us our fruit and veggies cheap. There is definitely a market for it.