Freshman 15 less prevalent; average student gains around 5 pounds first year
The common idea of gaining the freshman 15 is actually not true to many students.
People who gain weight tend to eat more junk foot and comfort eat, said Najat Yahia, assistant professor of human environmental studies.
“The freshman 15 is myth because if you follow a healthy lifestyle, (students) will actually lose weight,” she said.
Layne Davis, fitness and wellness assistant director, said most students won’t gain 15 pounds their freshman year, they will more likely gain around 5 pounds.
“It’s such a big lifestyle change,” Davis said. “They are used to parents cooking dinner and being active in high school sports. Then when they get here, they usually don’t get involved in sports.”
Yahia also said the environment change is a big factor, and stress and loneliness can cause weight gain.
“They eat for some kind of comfort, from juggling with their courses, being away from home and not eating home-cooked food,” she said.
Davis said the key to avoid gaining freshman weight is to start building healthy habits with daily exercise and paying attention to what you eat. She said the problem for most students is they don’t realize the amount of calories they consume.
There are also other ways to develop healthier habits, Yahia said.
Walking 60 minutes five days a week is good way to start getting active.
“Eating with friends does help as well, because you eat less,” she said.
Preparing snacks at home will also help with avoiding unhealthy options on the go. Yahia said eating breakfast is extremely important and correlates with a healthy Body Mass Index.
Monroe junior Koren Burns said the freshman 15 was not something she had a problem with.
“It really depends on the person and how active they are,” Burns said.
Burns said she only gained about three pounds, mostly due to her inactivity.
She has since found several ways to combat college lifestyle-related weight gain.
“I’ve found that not eating as many carbs, drinking water and not pop or juice, is a good way to be more healthy,” she said.
Burns said she had some advice for incoming freshmen to enjoy similar success.
“Eat salad at every meal in the dining hall, don’t drink pop, or overindulge in food, walk and ride your bike to class and go to the Student Activity Center,” she said.
