The College Fix

The Freshman 15 is a myth, a new study in Social Science Quarterly found. Student, instead, are more likely to gain about three pounds:

Freshmen gain between 2.5 to 3.5 pounds, on average, over the course of their first year of college. Compared to same-age noncollege attendees, the typical freshman gains only an additional half-pound. Instead of a spike in weight during the freshman year, college-educated individuals exhibit moderate but steady weight gain during and after college.

Ohio State researchers led the study, and used data from 7,000 teenagers who reported their weight each year beginning in 1997. The top 5 percent of weight-gainers put on about 18 pounds as freshmen, while a quarter of the first-year students actually lost weight. After school, however, the weight gain is more significant:

Zagorsky and Smith found that students typically gain weight throughout their college careers –– about 7 to 9 pounds total for women and 12 to 13 for men. After college, the average graduate gained 1.5 pounds a year.

“People slowly and steadily gain weight,” Zagorsky said. “If you gain 1.5 pounds per year, in 20 to 30 years you’re going to be obese, no matter where you start.”

[The Ticker]

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