Freshman fifteen
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The freshman fifteen is the fifteen pounds of extra body fat some students gain during their freshman (first) year of study in college or university. Freshman typically live in halls of residence or dormitories, often compounding issues with unhealthy eating.
Many schools recognize the phenomenon by name and make use of this opportunity to put up posters and hold seminars on basic nutrition, with tips on how to avoid gaining weight.[citation needed] Research and popular opinion on this matter suggests that there are several causes for this increase in weight; many believe that some or all of the following are the main contributors to this weight gain:
- The increased amount of homework that students are often assigned in their first year (in particular compared to high school) often leads to an increase in eating snacks.
- The larger social world of college creates many opportunities to party, with large alcohol intake being a key factor.
- Frequently, moving away from home means that a lot of students become responsible for their own nutrition for the first time.
- Those living in a dorm often eat cafeteria-style food, which has a reputation for being unhealthy.
- The increasing popularity of fast food and the prominence of fast-food franchises on many college campuses means that unhealthy food is more easily available to students.
- College students tend to have to little sleep as a result of the studying and socialising that is an acknowledged part of college/university life. Lack of sleep has been shown to cause decreased levels of leptin, a hormone that stimulates the feeling of fullness after eating. This leptin deficiency can cause overeating and weight gain.
[edit] Questioning the number
New students may also skip meals and experience increased levels of stress, which may in turn result in weight loss. The lifestyle change of entering a university coupled with a sudden fluctuation in weight are also contributing factors in malnutrition and eating disorders, which are more commonly reported among female students[citation needed].
University of Guelph professors Alison Duncan and Janis Randall Simpson conducted a study of first-year female students that suggested that female students may gain only five pounds, and not fifteen.[1] Duncan and Simpson have since begun a study of first-year male students to see if the same weight-gain pattern holds true for them, and the results of the expanded study are expected in mid-2007.[2]
However, despite some disagreement[3] that the number is that high, there is some evidence[4] that this term used to be "Freshman 10", and the increase in the number reflects the increase in the weight gained in the first year.
[edit] References
- ^ Ritter, Mitch. "The Freshman 15 — it's really the Freshman 5", 12 January 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
- ^ CBS News Online. !Battling first year weight gain!, 1 September 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
- ^ http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/articles-submit/paul-buckley/beating-freshman-15.htm, http://www.uoguelph.ca/research/news/articles/2006/January/freshman_five.shtml
- ^ http://www.thespartandaily.com/media/paper852/news/2002/10/22/CampusNews/Freshman.10.Myth.Gains.Five.Pounds-1495877.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.thespartandaily.com
