It’s a no-brainer what the cause of the “Freshman 15” is.
That’s the 15 pound average weight gain for college freshmen, usually women. Is this inevitable or can it be prevented?
Why is this first-year college weight gain common enough to have earned, decades ago, the moniker of Freshman 15?
Heck, it’s even often capitalized in articles (just like I’m doing!).
A team led by professor Y. Alicia Hong, who studies mobile and wearable tech in health, looked into this phenomenon.
Their conclusion: The college environment itself encourages habits that lead students to eat more over time.
Well of course! When I lived in a dorm my freshman year, I quickly discovered which foods you were allowed to have unlimited servings and which ones you could have only one serving.
However, the limitation was rare and was confined only to the occasional steak they served.
All the dorms on the large campus allowed as many servings as you wanted for any kind of dessert type food; refills on soda and hot chocolate; seconds, thirds and fourths on pasta dishes; all the fries, mac ‘n cheese and mashed potatoes you could eat; and permission to fill up on as many burgers and hotdogs to your heart’s desire (or shall I say, stomach’s).
Let’s not forget breakfast food: all the pancakes, waffles, bacon, buttermilk biscuits and donuts you could eat.
It doesn’t end there, though. Dormitories often have grills that are open til midnight.
Let me tell you, my college’s grill had the best damn pizza I’d ever had! And the nachos weren’t too bad, either!
Certainly, we can say with confidence that increased alcohol intake, or new alcohol intake by students who previously were nondrinkers, contributes to the Freshman 15.
Social Settings Trigger Eating and Drinking
Hong explains that social settings matter. Students tend to eat more in dining halls where they’ll linger to socialize, or when they’re with others inside dorm rooms and someone’s cooking up a big batch of popcorn.
Group meals, even casual ones, increase calorie intake.
How the Study Was Done
For four weeks, students used an app to log food choices, where they ate and how they felt.
The data was clear. Eating with at least one other person usually meant bigger meals.
Eating solo or at home tended to mean less food.
Think about it: The longer you’re at a table with a group of students with whom you feel comfortable, the longer you’ll be seeing others eat; the longer you’ll be smelling the food; the more tempted you’ll be to get up and dive into seconds and thirds.
Even students who live off campus are prone to these stimuli for eating more than what they’re hungery for.
For example, they’re vulnerable to late runs to the nearest Arby’s or Taco Bell to take a break from hard studying.
The study also showed that students often misjudge how much they eat.
What they reported didn’t always match the app’s numbers.
Stress, mood, and gender also shaped eating behavior.
Hong noted that college eating habits are layered and influenced by many factors.
She emphasized how important context is for diet research and how digital tools can help track eating more accurately.
Fighting Off The Freshman 15
A great way to combat unnecessary weight gain is to simply ask yourself, when you’re tempted for seconds, “Is this a food that will always be around until the end of time?”
If the answer is “Yes,” then it’ll be easier to forego the extra helping.
Really now, is it worth the extra weight to keep overeating on college dormitory hamburgers, meatloaf, fried chicken and lasagna?
After all, these foods will be around a hundred years from now, and you can get them anytime you want from the supermarket.
The next tool in your belt is making a regular habit of spending time in the campus gym, where all sorts of activities are available. Don’t become The Laze.
