The freshman 15 has become notorious. It is something college students fear and, at one point and time, it made sense.
College is the first time many students live away from their parents, so there's no one who can force them to get exercise and eat healthy.
However, a study from Ohio State University that followed over 7,400 people for 14 years of their adolescent lives found this to be nothing more than a myth. On average, students gained 2.5 to 3.5 pounds.
“Two to four pounds is not a dramatic weight gain and would not be considered unhealthy,” said Tina Shepard, registered dietician and senior lecturer in the nutrition program at ASU.
Interestingly enough, both figures from the study and anecdotal evidence show that men are more worried about it than women. Men, on average, typically gain a pound more than women. Students also have observed males being much more conscious of these extra pounds.
According to nutritionists, if students gain weight it is typically due to skipping meals, late night snacking and consuming more alcohol. None of these things should come as a surprise. We all have skipped breakfast more than once and ordered pizza at 1 a.m. while cramming for finals.
Indeed, between jobs, classes, internships, extracurricular activities and maintaining a social life, college certainly makes life much crazier than it was in high school. This often leaves less time for physical activity, and students often struggle to find a time to visit the gym. The notion that this comes at the expense of a student’s health has been debunked.
Freshmen students’ living situations are often conducive to eating healthier than upper-classmen. Dormitories house many of the freshmen, and with that comes a meal plan. Campus cafeterias have healthy food ready for students to eat immediately. Older students often live off campus and must cook for themselves, or eat Ramen and Hot Pockets nightly, which obviously cannot be helpful to your health.
Once students reach the much-coveted age of 21, alcohol is readily available, making weight gain that much easier.
While these may be the facts, it will be hard to change society’s attitude towards the freshman 15. Everyone talks about it and magazines and websites have plenty of remedies.
It has been passed down from generation to generation; our parents worried about it, and now we are worrying about it. Thankfully, this is nothing more than an old wives’ tale, but students should still be concerned about their health — it is a lot easier to succeed under the stresses of college when your body is running on all cylinders, or at least on something other than pizza.
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