For many, going to university is the first time they live (semi) independently. They get to make their own choices resulting in drastic character shifts. Laundry may be done less and classes may be ditched more. All of the sudden, students have no authority figure waiting to scold them if they are out past midnight, except for perhaps a disgruntled roommate. Additionally, according to popular belief, college freshmen can expect another change... in their weight. A source of anxiety for many, the “Freshman Fifteen” refers to the fifteen pounds freshman allegedly gain their first year of college. For being such a widely accepted concept, very little thought is ever put into the accuracy and consequences of this claim. While students do, on average, gain weight their freshman year at university, it is considerably less than 15 pounds, and often the extent of weight gain is dependent on the person’s former weight and exercise habits. Additionally, the physical health effects of this weight gain are less concerning in the long term than the mental and emotional damages caused by rumors such as the Freshman Fifteen.
There is some truth to the concept of the Freshman Fifteen. Many studies have shown that there is, on average, a positive weight change in the freshman population every year. As of 2015, the mean weight gain was three pounds according to a study done using peer reviewed data collected and analyzed by Calduia Vadeboncoeur, a researcher of social and health psychology at Oxford University. However, she found that only two-thirds of the freshman population actually gained weight, and the average weight put on by this population was 7.5 lb, only half of the purported Freshman Fifteen. This number is less concerning than 15 pounds, but it is worth noting that freshman college students do generally gain weight faster than the rest of the population. Further analysis by researcher Nicole Mihalopoulus showed that students at private universities, “gained weight at a rate 5.5 times faster than the general population.” While this study did not include public university students, the fact that students are gaining weight faster than the rest of the country is likely universal to all higher education. This may certainly cause health concerns for a number of students, but there are distinctions as to who tends to experience this change the most.
How much weight students gain their first year is linked to preexisting aspects of their physical health. When examining the changes in habits and weight in college students, researchers found that those with higher BMIs (ratios of body mass to height) were more likely to gain weight, and in larger amounts than their peers with lower BMIs. Additionally, those who reported reduced levels of physical activity or continuance of a sedentary lifestyle were also more likely to gain weight, and in larger quantities than those who reported participating in at least four hours of low-to-moderate intensity physical activity a week. Particularly for student athletes and other health-focused individuals, the concept of weight gain in college may feel particularly uncomfortable because it could have a drastic impact on their lifestyle and activities in college. Yet this data shows that there is little reason for concern for such individuals since the “Freshman Fifteen” or other college weight gain seems, like most weight gain, to be rooted in a person’s habits. Thus, if those habits remain similar in regards to physical activity, students can expect for the outcome of those habits to remain similar. If rapid weight gain was not a problem for them in high school because of frequent physical activity and normal eating patterns, then, should those habits persist, rapid weight gain should not be a problem in college either.
While previous weight and physical activity have been proven to be causes of weight gain or lack thereof, there is no solid evidence of any other causes of college weight gain. Generally, freshman weight gain is observed across all universities in the United States, both public and private, but there are no other easy factors to point to as far as specific reasons for this weight gain. Yet, this has not stopped both students and researchers from speculating.
In a survey of freshman women, researchers from the Utah Valley University’s Department of Public and Community Health found that these students most commonly “attributed freshman weight gain to newly found food independence.” This makes logical sense. Generally, high school students are confined by the eating habits of their families. For the most part, they do not purchase their own groceries nor make decisions about what food is prepared in their homes. While most freshmen do not cook their own food, they do begin to make the brunt of decision making involving their eating habits when they enter university. Many universities offer all-you-can-eat styles of dining for their students, which is drastically different from simply grazing at one’s home. This can lead to students eating well beyond their real hunger.
This leads to another interesting factor to consider when discussing freshman weight gain, and that is the development of the practice of intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is defined by Hala Madanat, PhD, as “a dieting alternative that teaches eating in response to hunger and satiety cues.” Despite generally being viewed as one of the healthiest ways to approach eating, this style is not often encouraged in households, as children are encouraged to always finish their plates, regardless of whether or not they are still hungry. Additionally, people are encouraged to eat with others at meal times (despite not necessarily being hungry) and to ignore hunger because it is not yet a meal time. These external factors to eating habits tend to go away in college,which means students must discover healthy eating patterns on their own. With less healthy options readily available, it is unlikely that students will be able to do this perfectly the moment they set foot in a university cafeteria. Obviously, they will experience some trial and error as they develop their own individual eating habits, which could possibly lead to some of the weight gain observed in freshman students.
While weight gain is a growing concern in America, the relatively small amount of weight gained by freshman students does not pose as great a health hazard as the misinformation and negativity surrounding it. Weight change is commonly expected in any big lifestyle shift, like going off to college. However, in critical turning points of life, there are much more pertinent things to focus on than the number on the scale. Additionally, rumors such as the Freshman Fifteen cement negative perceptions of food and weight that actually exacerbates weight and food related health problems.
Returning to the study by Utah Valley university, when quizzed about their thoughts on the Freshman Fifteen, a concerning number of freshmen women responded with fear. Many reported “being cautious around food,” which is a distressing prospect. Why should anyone feel the need to be cautious around the very thing that nourishes their body and allows for life? Even worse, they “described freshman weight gain as inevitable.” The consequences of a mentality such as this are severe. The freshman in question said that their relationship with food was affected by “stress and comparison to others,” which is, unfortunately, the perfect breeding ground for body dissatisfaction and all of its disastrous health consequences.
The degradation of body image by the negative discussion surrounding college weight gain commonly leads to eating disorders. A study by Sherrie Delinsky, PhD, a clinical psychologist and researcher specializing in body image and eating disorders, proved just how prevalent this situation can be. She conducted a longitudinal study, checking not only the BMIs of freshman at the beginning and end of their first year of college, but also their dietary restraint (food restriction), eating disorder symptoms, and body image. The results were clear and disturbing: “Disordered eating increases during the first year of college and is predicted by prospective dietary restraint and concerns about weight gain.” These findings show that those with fear of gaining the “Freshman Fifteen” tend to develop disordered eating habits, which wreck the human body. Eating disorders cause severe vitamin deficiencies, anemia, dizziness, fatigue, dental problems, and even damage to internal organs. Even after recovering, digestive issues and food intolerances, as well as the mental struggles of eating disorders, still plague a person’s life. Is staying 7.5 pounds lighter during college really worth these consequences?
Even in cases where commonly known eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia do not develop, the mental consequences of rumors such as the Freshman Fifteen still lead to physical ones. Another finding of Delinsky’s study was that concerns about weight gain, such as those promoted by the Freshman Fifteen, “uniquely predicted” the body image of a student at the end of their first year. The higher their fear of the Freshman Fifteen, the worse their standardized body image score was by the end of the year. This may not necessarily lead to the development of full-blown eating disorders, but poor body image can still have devastating consequences for one’s physical health. The first is the breakdown of intuitive eating. A recent study by researchers at San Diego University found that women with a higher Body Image Discrepancy, a measure of body dissatisfaction, were less likely to respond to hunger and satiation cues. This often leads to a cycle of binging and then restricting. This can lead to digestive issues, but this cycle can also damage one’s extrapersonal relationships because it creates a fear around food, which is frequently involved in social gatherings. Binge-restrict cycles leave a person feeling like food is in control of them, and this loss of control can cause anxiety that can impact every aspect of a person’s life. Additionally, the loss of the ability to recognize and respect hunger and satiation cues can lead to disordered eating behaviors, though not intuitively eating is not a disorder in and of itself.
Body image itself may have a more direct effect on a person's physical health. While this has not been researched in depth for the general population, negative body image in those struggling with obesity actually correlates to heightened cardiometabolic risks, such as heart disease and metabolic syndromes. Thinking negatively about your body does not immediately drop your metabolism, but it leads to behavior changes that affect physical health, such as shame eating or avoiding physical activities for fear of embarrassment. As shown in Delinksy’s study, fear of the Freshman 15 results in worsened body image. What this means is that a fear of college weight gain frequently causes the weight gain feared in the first place, because it affects body image and consequently health behaviors. Additionally, even if it does not cause weight gain, the fear will undoubtedly cause other health problems surrounding food such as eating disorders and the breakdown of intuitive eating as mentioned previously. Again, we must ask, is this worth 7.5 pounds?
The answer is undoubtedly no. Not many students would jump for joy at the prospect of gaining 7.5 pounds, particularly given the negative mentality surrounding their bodies, but this weight gain is simply a part of the process of gaining independence as part of attending university. Our real concern needs to be the way this weight gain is discussed. Fear of food and weight gain have long lasting effects on a person’s physical and emotional wellbeing. Because of these rumors and the culture of fear around weight gain, there are some freshmen who do not gain weight their first year of college because they intentionally restrict their food intake. Dietary restraint commonly leads to eating disorders, and just because they did not gain college weight does not mean that they do not suffer from the same negative shifts in their mentality as students who did. Body image dysphoria does not care whether a person is thick or thin; it creeps into a person’s mind regardless of their weight. While those whose weight remains constant their freshman year may be more “healthy” according to common belief, the Freshman Fifteen will continue to affect their health as long as they continue to fear it.
Some may disagree with this, citing concerns about the obesity epidemic in the United States. Most recent data has shown that 31.4% of the United States population is obese, and the health consequences of this weight gain are real. According to the CDC, weight gain can cause “high blood pressure, stroke, breathing problems, and many types of cancers,” as well as other health problems. Obesity continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives every year in the United States, and it is not only reasonable, but remarkably admirable to attempt to prevent these deaths. Yet it is abundantly clear that scare tactics and rumors such as the Freshman Fifteen do nothing but exacerbate this situation. As discussed previously, fears of weight gain such as the Freshman Fifteen damage one’s body image, which can have disastrous health consequences, including but not limited to weight gain. How is it logical to continue to purport rumors to keep people from becoming obese when those rumors frequently lead to weight gain? There is no reason to spread rumors and scare tactics such as the Freshman Fifteen because they do not actually help control the obesity epidemic; they simply solidify the stigma surrounding it. This makes addressing the problem itself more challenging because it shames those suffering from it, making it less likely that they will seek the medical and emotional help they need to overcome obesity.
Change in college is real, including change in weight. However, the so-called “Freshman Fifteen” that university students allegedly gain in their freshman year are not as severe of a problem as the stigma surrounding them. It is only the “Freshman Seven-Point-Five,” but even if it was the Freshman Fifteen, our focus must be on the emotional reaction to college weight gain, and not the weight gain itself. It is this emotional reaction that determines where college students’ health journeys will take them in their life, not the weight they gain. Current discussion surrounding the Freshman Fifteen is only creating an atmosphere of fear around food, and leaving young people with the sense that they are not in control of their health. This must change, and in much more drastic ways than 7.5 pounds, for our society to become a truly healthy one, both physically and mentally.
