The Importance Of Weight In College Students

Being overweight, eating poorly, and not exercising are becoming an epidemic in America, especially among college students. Most of the research on it states the same things, however the first research article I found speaks more to the behavior and its current affects on college students’ health. A slew of doctors and Jesse S. Morrell wrote an article about “Risk Factors Among College Men and Women” in relationship to obesity. The opening of this article stated that “an estimated 300,000 deaths each year are attributable to obesity… and young adults have experienced dramatic increases in obesity rates,” (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). This statistic is what really got the research going and helped the researchers focus specifically on college-aged individuals. Upon diving into their research, the authors found more alarming statistics and related diseases. This included a recognizable relationship between obesity in young people and chronic disease risk, especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). In fact, CVD was the second leading cause of death in the US in that college-age group showing that our generation is at a greater risk for health problems than ever before due to our lack of exercise and healthy diets. Researchers then took to college campuses to examine students and their habits and provide risk assessments to promote healthier lifestyles and hopefully decrease the probability of CVD and DM through the metabolic syndrome system,

De Vos, P., Hanck, C., Neisingh, M., Prak, D., Groen, H., & Faas, M. M. (2015). Weight gain in freshman college students and perceived health. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2, 229–234.

Drinking has become a tradition amongst college students, and drinking is portrayed as a vital part of the college experience. Most incoming college freshman come into college with a preexisting tendency to drink, and the college campus life can be a significant influence on alcohol consumption and the rate at which alcohol is consumed. Binge drinking is so common that it is expected of a college student to drink once getting into the university. The reasons in which students decide to binge drink can vary from students

When I arrived here at college I was extremely disappointed with the selection of food here in the cafeteria. I frequently found myself eating only hamburgers and pizza over and over again, simply because I did not like the other choices. About four months into the school year I had do go to the doctor for a virus and when the nurse weighed me I was a little surprised by what I saw. I had gained a little over ten pounds, close enough to what some refer to as the “Freshman 15.” It is a common fear among college students that they are going to gain fifteen pounds during the course of adjusting to college life. However experts have stated that the idea of the so called “Freshman 15,” is not that accurate. Every college student is obviously

In the article, “Freshman 15: College Weight Gain Is Real” introduced by the writer, Jennifer Warner, argues that students would are off to college as freshman are in risk of gaining significant weight. Warner adds that “A new study shows that nearly one in four freshmen gain at least 5% of their body weight, an average of about 10 pounds, during their first semester” (Warner). Jennifer Warner supports this with researchers Heidi J. Wengreen and Cara Moncur of the department of nutrition and food sciences at Utah State University in Logan write in Nutrition Journal.The researchers added “Almost one quarter of students gained a significant amount of weight during their first semester of college”. This demonstrates that within these 25% of students, they gain significant

Risk factors such as sex, race, and grades are also discussed and linked with increased drinking. The social aspects of drinking, such as peer pressure and ones perceived image of themselves are discussed as well, along with student opinions on why they think other students drink.

College athletes rely heavily on what their bodies look like as a way to gauge their performance and often times nutrition and the quality of their diets is neglected. Athletes have ideas about what their body composition should be for their sport, whether they need to be lean, muscular, or bulky. However, those preconceived ideas about body composition can cause athletes to consumer fewer or more calories than recommended by RD. In the scholarly

Many incoming student athletes face problems with being out of shape when they first start their season. Many will claim that they will start to get in shape when they begin practicing and once they get used to it. It could be true for some student athletes, but they will find themselves struggling throughout the first couple months. Why not start off the season already in shape by eating correctly. Diet will be one of the most important lifestyles in a student athlete’s life. A lot of new collegiate student athletes will not know that eating three meals a day will help them throughout their whole season as well as their pre-season. I believe that all student athletes should consume at least three meals a day while keeping in mind what they are eating. Not only is it important for them to eat three meals a day but it is very important for all student athletes to consume the right amount of water everyday.

The documented data states that college students who are athletes, males, whites and some first year students drink the most. It can be presumed that Folsom Lake College and other community colleges

Having bad eating habits can cause vastly eating disorders and illnesses. Students attending college that do not eat right are most likely to conceive an illness or become overweight. “An unhealthy diet is a major risk factor for becoming overweight and obese,” (McNight). Freshman 15 is most likely to get to the students that have This is something to think about when it comes to meal plans. The majority of the meal plans offered at any college are high in fats and calories. By consuming all of these foods you are more likely to having this problem.

The ‘Freshman 15’ concept is a myth but, Freshman weight gain is real due to heavy drinking, development and, diet and exercise. On average freshman gain about three pounds over their first year and possibly every other year, which is the almost the same as those young adults who do not attend college but, there is still a strong misconception- people believe that freshman gain much more weight than non college attenders. According to Priya Kirplani, a counsellor at the Florida International University, the Freshman 15 refers to the said typical weight gain in freshman. This weight gain was previously referred to as the Freshman 10. The first big buzz about the Freshman 15 was in Seventeen magazine’s 1989

Obesity has risen over the years. The United States now has one of the highest obesity rates. Bad eating habits are usually the cause of this pandemic. For the past few decades, college dorm foods have led to these habits. The more unhealthy food choices are, the harder it is for people to resist these foods. Colleges serve a variety of unhealthy food in their dining halls that contributes to students’ lower GPA. By eating healthier, students can maintain a healthy weight, focus better in school, and increase their school performance to a higher grade point average (GPA).

The main focus of this research is on freshman who are newly transitioning from highschool to college. The objective of this research is to measure possible reasons why students are gaining a substantial amount of weight while they are currently enrolled freshman year of college and how that weight gain can influence and increase the chance of diseases in their lives later on.

The “Freshmen Fifteen” is a slang term used among youth to refer to an approximation of 10 to 15 pounds that a first-year university student is predicted to gain. There is an association between the first-year experience in university and weight gain. One study concluded that first-year students gain 5.5 more than the general population (Mihalopoulos, Auinger, & Klein, 2008). It is critical to study late adolescent eating behaviors because it has been found that weight problems in this vulnerable age is a strong predictor to adulthood obesity. Clinical obesity can result in many physiological problems such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

College age students face different problems than the teens in high school. When students live in dormitories at a university or college, they eat on a meal plan. They usually do not have money of their own to spend on food at restaurants so the cafeteria regulates what food they eat. The cafeterias serve a lot of foods such as hamburgers or other meats with sauces and a lot of potatoes. These foods are very high in starch and cause of weight gain.