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The Freshman 15—A Closer Look

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 58; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/07448480903295334

1940-3208

Sareen S. Gropper, Karla Simmons, Alisha Gaines, Kelly Drawdy, Desiree Saunders, Pamela V. Ulrich, Lenda Jo Connell,

Children's Physical and Motor Development

Abstract Objectives and Participants: Changes in body weight, composition, and size were examined in college freshmen at the beginning (initial, n = 240) and end of fall semester 2007 (n = 214) and the end of spring semester 2008 (n = 205). Methods: Height, weight, body composition, and waist and hip measurements were assessed. Results: Mean weight, body mass index (BMI), absolute and percent body fat all increased significantly over fall semester and the academic year. About 31% of freshmen lost ≥5 lbs. Mean academic year weight gain was 2.6 lbs (entire group) and 6.0 lbs (weight gainers); body fat increased by 4.4 lbs in the weight gainers. A significant correlation (r = .509) was found between weight change and waist circumference change, but not between weight change and waist to hip ratio change. Conclusions: Freshmen weight gain is associated with increases in body fat and waist circumference, which may be troublesome should the trend continue throughout college. Keywords: body fatbody shapecollege studentsfreshman 15lean body massweight gainweight loss ACKNOWLEDGMENT This study was supported by Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. The authors would like to thank K. Calloway, H. Castro, K. Clary, C. Conner, P. Harrington, S.P. McCurdy, J. Musgrove, A. Prichard, L. Sims, E. Weems, and L. Westbrook for their assistance with data collection. Notes a Data are presented as mean ± SD. b n = 205 for all and n = 73 for males, except for lean body mass, absolute body fat, and% body fat whereby n = 200 for all and n = 68 for males. Note. *Significantly (p < .05) different from the beginning of fall values.