The Freshman 15

The freshman 15. Urban legend or proven reality?

“The freshman 15” relates to the widespread belief that most students will gain 15 pounds during freshman year of college. Ideas about the freshman 15, or even college weight gain in general, circulate in the popular media. Horror stories and tales are found everywhere from television shows to magazines. There is even an entire website dedicated solely to discussion on the topic.

Television shows such as the 2001 series “Undeclared” and MTV’s “College Life” address the issue of the freshman 15 in relation to the extreme stress associated with the academic responsibilities of a college student. As an issue complicated by factors of health, youth, rising rates of obesity and societal pressures, discussion surrounding the freshman 15 can be incredibly sensitive in nature.

According to a 2006 study done by Sherrie Delinsky, Ph.D, and G. Terrence Wilson, concerns about the infamous freshman 15 appear to be widespread. Nearly all the female participants in their study on “weight gain, dietary restraint, and disordered eating in the first year of college,” had heard of the freshman 15, while two thirds reported being at least mildly concerned about it.

The myth lives on, but research and studies published in the past few years have lightened the load of the freshman 15.

Delinsky and Wilson’s study proposes that average weight gain among women during their first year of college is only approximately 3 lbs. Other studies have reported freshman weight gain to be anywhere from just over 1 pound to almost 9 pounds.

Weight gain among college students is usually associated with a decrease in muscle mass, an increase in alcohol consumption and a change in eating habits. These factors are probably exaggerated further in an environment where stress, social pressures, abnormal sleeping patterns and vending machines run rampant.

The freshman 15 may be largely a myth but that does not make it any less relevant to discussions on college health and lifestyles. Some researchers believe that weight gain during late adolescence (ie. during college-age years) can be highly predicative of weight gain and obesity in adulthood.

Efforts to debunk the myth by doctors, counselors, psychologists, and health publications are simultaneously negating and perpetuating. Though it is generally agreed that the “freshman 15” is an exaggeration of reality, factors for weight gain and tips on how to fight off the pounds accompany this consensus.

And so, the myth continues to live on in the hearts, minds, and stomachs of adolescents everywhere.