The University of Alabama has seen an even stronger shift toward healthy choices on campus since its high ranking in Men’s Health magazine.

In the November 2011 issue of Men’s Health, UA was ranked 10th in the Top 25 Most Fit Campuses. Since then, there has been an even stronger demand by students for more healthy food choices on campus, as well as more space in the University Recreation Center.

Dave Crutchfield, marketing coordinator for the Rec, said the amount of students coming through the Rec every day hit record numbers in the spring.

“We’re probably getting close to 5,000 people a day coming through here,” Crutchfield said. “We have over 100 fitness classes offered per semester, and a lot of those are nearing capacity.”

Jason Casey, coordinator of fitness services for the Rec, said there has been a significant increase in the demand for personal training, particularly with the group training offered so that students are able to train with friends.

“We’ve doubled the size of our personal training staff – we have around 32 or 33 personal trainers,” Casey said. “We have around 500 clients within our personal training department, which is one of the largest in the country in terms of campus recreation.”

Zach Smithson, a junior majoring in electrical engineering, said he is a frequent visitor of the Rec.

“I like to use the Rec for lifting, mainly, but lately, I’ve been using the gym for pickup basketball games,” Smithson said. “People are always there looking for a game to start.”

Crutchfield said he thinks the friendly atmosphere and beautiful facilities speak for themselves, and no significant marketing increase has contributed to the record number of students coming through.

“We haven’t done any more promotion than what we have done in the past,” Crutchfield said. “I think with more people enrolled in the University, more people are being exposed to the Rec, and more people are talking about it.”

Crutchfield also mentioned the 60,000-square foot facility being built close to the new dorm as being a testament for the need for growth.

“We have nowhere to go but up,” Crutchfield said.

Another on-campus outlet students look to for aid in their quest to live healthier is Bama Dining. Kelsey Faust, marketing manager for Bama Dining, said a survey called Dining Styles is conducted each semester to gain feedback from students and customers.

“One of the categories of the survey is the ‘Availability of Healthy Options,’ and that score has improved tremendously year over year,” Faust said.

Faust said part of the survey asks for specific requests, and many students’ responses have resulted in changes to Bama Dining.

“In the past, students have asked for more healthy options, such as grilled chicken, which we serve at Burke on the grill and offer at the other dining halls as a healthy option,” Faust said. “There were also requests for a larger variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, so we now offer fresh sautéed vegetables at each dining hall, and we have expanded our fruit options to include different seasonal fruit such as kiwi and strawberries.”

Katie Summers, a junior majoring in accounting, agreed Bama Dining was taking steps in the right direction but thinks more could be done as far as offering fresh and not frozen food.

“I think UA offers enough to be considered healthy, but it could do more,” Summers said. “It would be awesome if Bama Dining could serve fresh, locally grown food.”

Summers said the addition of a larger Rec could also make it more plausible for students to maintain healthy habits.

“Food is only part of it,” Summers said. “Exercise is also important, and adding another Rec Center would make exercising easier since it is so crowded now.”