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For many new university students, heading off to college means figuring out how to balance studies, work, a social life and living alone all at the same time. Adapting to college life is even more challenging when faced with the threat of the so-called "Freshman 15," a term for the weight college freshmen supposedly gain during their first year away from home.
Is the Freshman 15 real, or just a cultural myth? Read on to learn how this term became commonplace and what students can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle freshman year and beyond.
The Answer/Debate
Let's begin with a bit of a bombshell: The Freshman 15 isn't a legitimate, scientific phrase. Seventeen Magazine introduced the term on its August 1989 cover with the all-caps subhead “FIGHTING THE FRESHMAN 15.” Since then, the expression has gained popularity and credence throughout pop culture… but is it a real phenomenon?
Recent studies suggest that while college students (both male and female) do gain weight during their first year at school, it's more to the tune of five pounds rather than fifteen. A recent Ohio State University study that included data from 7,418 young people over the course of their college years found that women and men, on average, gained around three pounds during freshman year. Less than ten percent of the freshmen gained 15 pounds (or more), and a full quarter of the students actually lost weight in their first year.
However, the study also found that on average, students slowly gained weight while at college. For women, the difference between first day of school and graduation was between seven and nine pounds; for men, it was between 12 and 13 pounds. Overall, the only consistent "cause and effect" relationship was between boozing and weight: Students who drank “heavily” (quaffing six or more drinks at least four days each month) were about a pound heftier than their tee-totaling friends.