Being in college is both challenging and nerve-racking. Besides studying and fitting in, students have to worry about "Freshman 15," an expression that emphasizes how much a college student can gain in only in his or her first year in school.
A new study tells us, however, that the principle may not be true at all.
In an article published in Reuters Health last Monday, September 29, 2014, a Greek team of researchers led by Michael Fedewa of the University of Georgia, concludes that although college students tend to gain weight, it doesn't immediately happen on the first year but rather spread across their college years. Moreover, if they gain weight, it's around a fifth of what most people believe in.
Their research, which can be found in American Journal of Preventive Medicine, looks into over 45 previous peer-reviewed studies that correlate weight gain and college, with focus on the amount of body fat and weight the subjects acquired. These studies, which were published before June 2013, cover as short as less than 2 months to as long as 4 years.
Based on their research, which began on July 2013 and ended on May 2014, participants did gain weight but only around 3.4 pounds all throughout their college life-a huge difference from the supposed 15 pounds in the first year alone. Their average body fat increase, meanwhile, is 1.17%.
Further, a weight management expert from New York David Levitsky said the weight gain experienced by college students are similar to that of young adults who are not in college.
Nevertheless, the researchers want to emphasize that even if the extra pounds are not alarming as we thought, college students should not take it easy as the weight gain may only be the beginning of a difficult weight management process later in life. Levitsky, on his part, suggests that college students should consider being active as a way to control or avoid the potential weight gain.
