Jul 15, 2013 04:37 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Colleges and universities across the country always attempt to provide the best amenities for students in order to stay on top of the business. Recently, Greatist, an online health and fitness media start-up, ranked the top healthiest and most active campuses in the U.S. The organisation selected the universities based on their food, fitness facilities, and health services on campus.

Bowdoin College has secured the top spot in the 'Best Food' list as it is credited with providing healthy, tasty, nutritious meals that range from pear and parsnip soup, to polenta cakes with spicy tomato chutney to spicy lentil tacos.

Apart from delicious food, the college offers a wide variety of fitness classes every week such as yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, and meditation at The Wellness Center. For gym enthusiasts, the college has recently opened Peter Buck Center for Health and Fitness with brand new gym equipments.

Interested students and staff can also participate in seminars, workshops, and retreats on subjects including integrative medicine, acupuncture, and massage, to reflexology.

Regarded as one of the prestigious universities in the world, Stanford University claimed the second spot in the list. The university also achieved the same rank in the Top 10 list of best universities in the world.

The stunning campus spread on 8,000 acres of land offers plenty of outdoor space to students to relax, study and engage in sports. Its dining halls provide seasonal food sans artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, and trans fats. In order to help students stay super fit, the university has introduced a new "10-Weeks to a Fitter You program", where one can avail personalized assistance from fitness coaches.

Virginia Tech has been named the third best healthiest campus in the country. The university has made it into the list due their unique incentive-based fitness program. The university maintains records of student workouts and then awards prizes to the individual with most workouts including a free personal training package, a group exercise pass, or a free fitness assessment.

The campus is also known for offering some healthy food options including grilled salmon, char-grilled tuna Nicoise, and unique pizzas like tomato and fig with balsamic or sweet potato and onion.

Rice University is placed fourth, which is followed by Washington University in St. Louis, Brown University, Wheaton College, Cornell University, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Bryn Mawr College among others. 

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