Being a freshman in college, I immediately was interested in an article that I found on abcnews.com entitled "The 'Freshman 15' Is More Myth Than Reality -- the 'Freshman 3.5' More Accurate, Study Finds." According to the article, a recent study has been done which shows that college freshmen will not gain a huge amount of weight. In fact, it stated that the average weight gain is 3.4 pounds for men and 2.4 pounds for women. Fewer than 10 percent of freshman gain 15 pounds or more, and 25 percent actually lose weight.
The study covered 7,418 students throughout the country; these students had already been recording their weight and height every year as a part of the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth. This study was more expansive than previous studies that had been conducted on the Freshman 15, which had only looked at small groups of students at one college. It was discovered that the little weight that freshmen do gain is attributed to several factors such as: freedom from parental supervision, high-calorie foods in the dining hall, increased stress levels, and lack of sleep.
However, the largest factor in weight gain for freshmen is heavy drinking. According to the study, this was the only factor that had a significant difference on weight gain. Even so, the weight gain isn't that much-- only a pound or less as compared to those who do not drink as much.
Overall, I find it a relief that college freshmen should not be concerned gaining the dreaded 15 pounds in their first year. However, we should still be taking care of ourselves by trying to eat healthy foods and exercise, even though it may be difficult with cafeteria food and a busy schedule. Jay Zagorsky, one of the authors of the study said, "Don't worry about suddenly going to college and becoming a blob...Don't worry about the freshman 15 -- it doesn't exist."
Mary, This is a very interesting topic to write on. I agree that it is very relevant to the entire freshman class and that while it may not be true that we gain more weight, we should definitly be taking better care of ourselves on the whole. I think that the only source of error i could see in this experiment is that because these students had been recording their own weight for a while, they could be much more conscious of it than the other students who were not studied. Overall, this is a very interesting topic!
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