College students may not gain the much-dreaded "freshman 15" but they do gain weight during their years in school, according to a new look at past research from the University of Georgia in Athens.
Read my tips to help minimize – or prevent – college weight gain.
Young adults gained an average of roughly 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) over their college careers with a relatively small gain during the first year, researchers found. “But what we found from this study was the change in weight and body fat during the first year continues on and so we think that change in weight and fat is related to time more than anything else,” said the lead researcher.
The longer students were followed, the bigger the change in weight. Also, the weight gain seen among college students was similar to what other researchers have observed among young adults not in college.
This suggests it is not limited to college students, but happens to many young adults during late adolescent and early adult years.
For the new study, researchers gathered data from 48 earlier studies that examined changes in weight and body fat among young adults. The studies were mostly conducted in the U.S. and followed young adults for up to four years.
College students gained an average of about 3.5 pounds during their four years of school and experienced about a 1.2 percent increase in body fat.
The research team was surprised at how little the weight gain was,; they thought they would see a much greater weight change because the so-called ‘freshman 15’.
The "freshman 15" refers to the amount of weight many college students in the U.S. and Canada are traditionally rumored to gain in their first year: 15 pounds, (roughly 7 kg).
While a few extra pounds are relatively small compared to the "freshman 15," the researchers say young adulthood may instead be a “tipping point” in lifelong behaviors related to weight management.
College may create an environment that encourages weight gain. Factors include vending machines, late-night studying and all-you-can-eat meal plans.
Experts recommend that college students weigh themselves weekly. “If you see yourself going up a pound or two, it's pretty easy to reverse that in about a week,” However, losing weight becomes more difficult when a person doesn’t look at the scale, their pants don’t fit and they realize that they’re 10 to 15 pounds heavier.
Source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, online September 15, 2014.
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