College Health: Weight Gain During the beginning of college the weight gain seems to be inevitable, before the first fall semester incoming students are warned about the dreaded ‘Freshman Fifteen’. The Freshman Fifteen is commonly known reference to the amount of weight students gain (15 pounds) in the first year of college. But, this phrase shouldn’t be talked about so sarcastically it maybe more real than people anticipate. An experiment put together by NCBI and several doctors studied unmarried freshman living on campus at a private University in the Northwestern United States. An online survey was created to collect information about social behavior and weight. The study concluded that freshman gain weight 5.5 times greater than that experienced by general population. Not stating that freshman gain an average of fifteen pounds in the first year but it adds to the fact that college freshman do gain more weight than someone who isn’t in college. Social behavior plays a role in weight gain because it is proven that when someone is stressed they tend to eat more than they normally would, or course other behaviors add to the gaining weight. Another study proves that new behavioral habits tend to cause the students to eat more. It is believed that the weight gain is due to late night study habits, usually fouled by vending machine snacks, college cafeteria, or any snack they could get a hold of for a cheaper price. Having night classes or having many hours in between classes is also one of the main problems. Not being able to cook a meal, instead eating snacks in between that time. The lack of exercise also plays a huge in weight gain, PE is not required anymore and most students stop playing sports. The researchers of this study followed 131 students over the span of four years at Auburn University in Alabama, concluding that a whopping 70% of them packed on by graduation, most of that weight being added in the first year. The cause for this weight gain is commonly blamed on not being able to afford healthier foods, not enough time to make a meal, so fast food it is. Being away from home causes students to feel down and home sick leading to them eating more, also not having someone at home cooking three meals a day or telling you to make the healthier option. Going through so much change in such a short amount of time can affect a young adult both physically and mental, causing the student to eat more due to stress or the student might have to learn how to cook and make healthier choices food wise. Emotional eating is real, and can be a serious problem. In an article by WebMD it states for many students college life is pretty much like starting over from square one. The students have to make new friends, meet academic demand, relationships, money worries, and easily available alcohol. Most students start college thinking that it isn’t going to be too different, but they quickly find out that it is much different. Overeating is how most students cope with stress is the way they put all the stress behind them. Socialization, to make new friends or relationships, is easier when there is food around. Calorie-dense alcohol can stand in for self-confidence. When the students are away from home and still haven’t made new friends they don't have the support system of friends, family, and activities that they had in high school, so they use what's available, namely food, to self-soothe. Weight gain can also differ between in mean and women, a study by Science Direct proved that men and women in college do not gain the same amount of weight; neither do they gain at the same rate. This study had 369 college student participants, revealing weight gain in college students occur early, the first two years. The weight gains are shown to be greater among the males in the study, compared to the gain of the females. It was found that male students tend to be less concerned about weight/appearance. Women usually care more about their appearance, which may lead to them choosing the healthier option or maybe be a little more active, than a man would.
Another huge cause for weight gain in college students is alcohol consumption; alcohol is a big part of the freshman year for many college students. According to a survey by USA Today, of 30,000 college freshmen across 76 colleges, more than half did more drinking that year than they did studying. Breaking away from home, meeting new people, trying new things a lot of this involves alcohol for college freshman. Alcohol has a high calorie count which is one of the major ones. Calories from alcohol are often not taken into consideration and can lead to unexpected weight gain over a long period of time. Alcohol causes the body to store excess fat because of its chemical makeup, and also has calories, a lot of calories. Alcohol also differs from men and women it has greater effect as far as weight gain goes on men than on women. This might be because women tend to calculate their daily caloric count or because they don’t want to develop the freshman 15. The calories from alcohol have no nutritional values, and because money is usually tight for college students they either have to choose food or alcohol. In most cases alcohol wins that debate causing the student not to get any nutritional calories for the body to feed off of. More than 70 percent of American adults age 20 and older are overweight or obese according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Freshman year is usually the one time in life when one has to deal with so much change, stress, and person challenge all at the same time. This is why so much weight is gained in such a short amount of time, the older one gets the more mature and experience they have to deal with all the emotion. The Freshman Fifteen is real and has taken a toll on many college freshman around the United States. Weight gain is a problem students have through college. Eating disorders is also one of the problems students tend to deal with. The most common college student disorders are anorexia, bulimia, and binge- eating. Anorexia is a huge case on college students they take extreme measures to avoid eating. The signs of anorexia include : An intense drive for thinness Refusal to maintain a normal weight Fear of becoming “fat” Distorted body image Denying feelings of hunger Avoiding situations where food is involved Obession with dieting Depression and Anxiety Bulimia is also one of the many disorders college students tend to consume. The students that have bulimia tend to consume a large amount of food within a short period of time. Many students force themselves to vomiting. Many use diet pills, excessive exercise, and many other products. Physical signs include swollen glands, discolored teeth and vomiting. Through college students tend to have a lot of stress within them, have to start a new journey. Students have these disorders or weight gaining problems because many struggle with their imagine and feel they have to be a certain way.
Work Cited Cluskey, M., and D.Grobe. “College Weight Gain and Behavior Transitions: Male and Female Differences.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association. US National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2009. Web. 05 Aug 2017 Mihalopoulos, Nicole L., Peggy Auinger, and Jonathan D. Klein. "The Freshman 15: Is It Real?" Journal of American College Health : J of ACH. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2008. Web. 05 Aug. 2017. O'Connor, Amy. "70% of Students Gain Weight During College: Study." Health.com. 70% of Students Gain Weight During College: Study, 26 Sept. 2012. Web. 05 Aug. 2017. Warner, Jennifer. "Freshman 15: College Weight Gain Is Real." WebMD. WebMD, 28 July 2009. Web. 05 Aug. 2017.