Dear readers,

The allure of health can be tacked on to almost anything. Young adults are constantly pushed to better their well-being with trendy products, complicated workout routines and food free of seemingly everything. The convoluted advice makes its way to campus through pop-ups around Washington Square Park, wellness influencers livestreaming from SoHo and conversations both in and outside of the classroom — after a while, it starts to feel like white noise.

But the clutter that often dominates our perception of health doesn’t shrink its importance. For students who grapple with the chaos of classwork and college life, the stereotype is that well-being gets put on the backburner. While that is rooted in some truth, young adults are finding new ways to take control of their health. Aiming to capture the most topical health-related issues in student culture, this magazine is split into three distinct subsections: dietary, physical and financial.

Writers addressed how social media trends such as “clean eating” and protein-maxxing influence what we eat, as well as how the infamous “freshman 15” historically misrepresents the habits of college students. Illustrators and photographers documented physical health in New York, from the third spaces that keep the city active to barriers of entry that plague its wellness sphere. Reporters delved into where NYU Langone Health places its money, funding cuts to NYU’s health research and finally — on the subject of financial health — what NYU’s steep tuition means for students.

The Health Issue would not have been possible without Deputy Magazine Editors John Bush and Colette Yehl, who wrote, edited and webbed stories across this issue. A special thanks to Alex Woodworth and Julia Smerling for bringing the magazine’s cover to life, and to Lauren Ng, Krish Dev, Anjali Mehta and Sidney Snider for overseeing its production. As always, thank you to our copy team — Ella Sabrina Malabanan, Alice Carlile, Sam Kats and Nghi Nguyen — for editing every piece. Your work does not go unrecognized.

Finally, to our readers: WSN thanks you for supporting us, and we hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Sincerely,