Weight Gain At College

Weight Gain At College

A popular notion is that incoming freshmen can expect to gain five, ten, fifteen or more pounds of weight by the end of their first year - college students call it the "Freshman 15."

Weight Gain At College

One college weight-gain study conducted 15 years ago found that a sample of university women gained weight 36 times faster than women the same age who did not attend college. The university women gained an average of nearly seven pounds of weight during that first year.

Freshman 15 - A Weight Gain Myth?

However, a recent college weight-gain study suggests that the "Freshman Fifteen" weight gain phenomenon may be a myth. Researchers in Iowa tracked a group of freshmen women, monitoring their weight, body fat and attitudes about gaining weight at the beginning and end of their freshman year.

More than half of the students put on weight, but the weight gain was generally less than five pounds. More than a third of the students actually lost weight. The students who were most worried about the dreaded Freshman 15 were most likely to think they'd put on weight, even if they hadn't. The researchers say that the Freshman 15 myth is a potentially dangerous one because students may feel that weight gain is inevitable, turning the myth into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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