"This kind of weight gain is a real problem for most young college students," said Jay Kandiah, a Ball State family and consumer sciences professor. "Many of these kids are away from home for the first time, eating on their own, and quite a few handle the stresses of college by turning to the emotional comfort of food."
The study revealed that freshmen, on average, gained about 0.3 pounds per week -- almost 11 times more than the weekly weight gain of 17 and 18 year olds and almost 20 times more than the weight gain of a typical adult.
"It's hard to measure that kind of weight gain in the fall because it's slow in coming," Kandiah said. "But by the second semester, I have a lot of freshmen girls who come to me and say, 'Dr. Jay, how can I lose all this weight so I can wear a bikini for Spring Break?"
Kandiah, who works as a nutritionist for the Student Health Center, said much of first-year weight gain comes from all-you-can-eat buffets, vending machines, late-night snacking and weekend beer binges.
"The greasy, fatty foods tend to be the easiest choices available to the students," she said. "If you take a look around you, it's easy to see why this problem is getting worse."
Students included in the Cornell study, about 85 percent of whom were female, were weighed at the beginning and end of their first 12 weeks of college. Each student filled out a questionnaire about eating, exercise and sleeping habits.
Contributing factors
Sophomore Nick Kinsey can easily rattle off the reasons why he gained weight his freshman year.
"Junk food all the time, drinking beer on weekends ... it really added up," he said.
Kinsey said that, without his mom's home-cooked meals, he now struggles to eat healthy foods like fruit and vegetables.
"Everyone goes through it (the 'Freshman 15')," he said. "All I have to say is, if you party a lot, make sure you eat healthy, or you'll wind up paying for it."
One of the biggest obstacles students have to overcome is the increased portion sizes of meals from residence hall dinners to fast food super-value meals.
"Students look at a value meal at a place like McDonald's and think (that) for four bucks, they're getting a real deal," Kandiah said. "The problem is, what they wind up eating is three times the size it should be."
Campus dining facilities can also make it difficult for students to turn down a second (or third) helping.
"We consider the buffet an 'all-you-care-to-eat' kind of facility, but students who eat in such a place should make wise choices when it comes to how much they eat," said Ann Talley, director of Ball State's dining facilities.
Talley said the university is required to provide students with a variety of food choices, which includes the familiar bags of junk food that can easily get a student in trouble.
"Students are old enough to know they shouldn't be eating that kind of food all the time," Talley said. "They have options, and each of our dining locations offers healthy choice foods -- items like lean deli meats, salad with low-fat dressings, and fruits and vegetables."
Freshman Kate Steincamp admits she is concerned about her weight since coming to college, especially since she eats a lot of the fatty foods offered in places such as the Atrium.
"Eating that kind of food is easy to do because it's so available," she said. "I'm just trying to balance it all with exercise. I think if I do that, I'll be okay."
Avoiding the inevitable
Kandiah encourages students who feel they are in danger of packing on the pounds to contact her for a free nutritional consultation.
"A lot of students are afraid to see me because they don't want to make that kind of change," she said. "They need to know that fad diets aren't going to help them out and the only way to lose the weight is with a balanced diet and exercise."
Both Kandiah and Talley also recommend that students start their days off right with breakfast.
"It's easily the healthiest meal of the day in terms of getting you energy," Talley said.
Kandiah said she encourages all college students to take a proactive stance when it comes to their health.
"With a little help and guidance, students can understand that college is never too late to make this kind of change," she said.
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