I can still remember the August before I started my freshman year of college. I was nervous, excited and committed to sticking to the salad bar when I ventured into the cafeteria. Even what feels like a million years ago now, I had heard of the “freshman 15” and I wasn’t going to let it happen to me.
Today, fears of the freshman 15 still abound. But few of them are based on fact. Here’s where the research stands on college weight gain, and what to know if you’re about to embark on the wonderful adventure that is college:
1. Most people gain weight (approximately 15 pounds) their freshman year of college.
Some weight gain is typical as young adults embark on college life — a life that usually entails total control over their eating habits for the first time. However, research suggests the average amount of weight gained is around 2 to 5 pounds. This is notably more than the average adult gains in a year, but less than the 15 pounds often feared. Plus, some college students’ bodies are still growing and developing, so a little extra weight gain at this age can be totally healthy.
[See: How to Make Healthful Dietary Changes Last a Lifetime.]
2. Young women and men are equally vulnerable to college weight gain.
Although young women may be more concerned with their weight in general and more apt to fear the freshman 15, at least one study suggests young men are more likely to gain weight than women.
3. Weight gain is only likely among college freshman; not sophomores or upper classmen.
Weight gain across adulthood is typical. This isn’t necessarily linked to college life as much as to changes in eating and activity patterns in general. It’s typical for young adults to spend a lot of their days sitting in classes and studying. Plus, the new freedom to manage time may discourage students from moving as much as they did in high school, when many were tied to demanding sports practice schedules and other activities. What’s more, our metabolisms begin to slow as early as age 20, which makes weight gain easier.
4. Freshman weight gain is primarily attributable to late-night eating and partying.
There’s really no evidence that, when college weight gain does occur, it’s due to alcohol consumption or midnight fast food binges. Of course, those things don’t help, but in general, it’s overall eating behaviors that can have the biggest effect on weight changes. Consistently eating in a cafeteria with an an unlimited buffet of palatable options, for example, is more likely to affect your weight than an occasional late-night pizza order. What’s more, if you eat most of your calories later in the day and at night, as many college students do, you may be more likely to gain weight than if you “front load” your calories, or eat more earlier in the day, some recent research suggests.
[See: 10 Gross Things You Should Stop Doing in College.]
5. No one loses weight when they start college.
Although less likely than weight gain, some college students do lose weight and may even develop eating disorders when granted total control over their eating behaviors. Eating disorders often arise during life transitions (college certainly counts) and the typical age of onset of eating disorders is the late teens, some evidence suggests. This is one reason why experts such as Meghan Gillen, an eating and body image researcher at Penn State University, suggests that colleges work with all students to adopt healthy eating and physical activity patterns as they transition to college life.
[See: The Eating Disorder Spectrum — From Pregorexia to Drunkorexia.]
6. You might as well take precautions to guard yourself against the freshman 15.
Actually, some research suggests that paranoia about the freshman 15 may be counterproductive. Students who fear weight gain when they start college tend to also be at risk for body dissatisfaction, weight concerns and disordered eating. So, if you are starting college this fall and have concerns about weight gain, this may be a good time to consult with a registered dietitian or counselor on your new campus. In many ways, college is the beginning of your adult life. Forming good health habits now will serve you well for years to come.
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6 Myths About the Freshman 15 originally appeared on usnews.com
