College is the accelerator for a slew of newfangled beginnings . go is that daily block of back - to - back classes , gone are the curfew and confinement , gone is your waistline …
The " starter 15 , " as it ’s dearly called , refer to those rumored pounds of fat that creep onto the frames of scholar embarking on their Modern and exciting collegiate journeying . From dining - hall dangers to try and no sleep , college lays out the utter formula for packing on the pounds .
Wait a minute … are our country ’s freshmen really stray that far from sensitive feeding and lifestyle habits ? Probably , yes . No parent ! But there ’s more to the account of the freshman 15 than you realize .
Jason Hoffman/Thrillist
Where did the phrase come from?
The first print usage of the term was in a1989 issue ofSeventeenmagazine . Emblazoned as a subhead on the cover was " Fighting the Freshman 15 , " and the quietus was consistence - shaming story .
Who bonk that what began as a grabby , alliterative cover hook to sell magazine would soon begin circulate around the United States and Canada as a material , fright - inducing phenomenon . A seemingly infinite phone number of articles have cover it in the clock time since , offer preventative measures and survival tactics .
As for the scientific veracity of the term ? Completely uncorroborated .
What the studies show
Fifteen pound is a sodding overestimation of the factual weight gain that incoming freshmen can expect . inquiry done byOhio State Universityshows that the average educatee gains just 2.5 - 3.5lbs in his or her first year of college . " The ' fledgeling 15 ' is a medium myth , " says Jay Zagorsky , co - writer of the study . " take over consumption of the phrase … may contribute to the perception of being overweight , especially among untried women . "
This unsupported number 15 may even be lead to theoppositeeffect : one in four study participants reported actuallylosingweight their first year . A2008 study foundthat of the participants monitored , only half gained any amount of weight , advise that the starter 15 is n’t a movement at all , but rather a subject - by - guinea pig consideration . Which honestly makes way more sense and should be reasonably reassuring .
Leave college out of it
What the Ohio State subject field actually found is that weight increase may havenothing to do with being in college . The distinctive freshman only puts on a half - Sudanese pound more than a equal of the same long time who does n’t go to college .
What ’s more probable is that geographic change are responsible for for weight profit . Many scholarly person leave behind home for college , sometimes head to whole dissimilar parts of the country . ThisAmerican obesity mapshows the prevalence of overweight adult by commonwealth and territory . If college takes you from , say , California to Mississippi , the modus vivendi and dieting change that come with that resettlement may be the real cause of any first - year pound accumulation . If you matriculate in one of thecountry ’s fittest cities , however , you may experience a slender - down .
Be careful about eating whatever you want, whenever you want
OK , so the country ’s freshmen aren’tallgorging themselves on dining - hall buffets and interminable soft serve . Do you hear that , MOM ? ! Yes , they ’re eating veg sometimes ! But that does n’t mean the kids are totally all correct .
The Ohio State studyreportsthat the typical womanhood will gain an norm of 7 - 9lbs over her four class of college , and the distinctive man is looking at 12 - 13lbs . And hey , some of that may be due to the fact that people may still be growing and replete out .
Post - graduation , weight profit continues at an norm of 1.5lbs per class , a course that can quickly add up if you ’re not deliberate . So while there ’s no need to fear the initial body - shock of the freshman 15 , there ’s something to be said for being conscious of wellness and lifestyle choices throughout all four eld .
College is the clip when most hoi polloi transition into sovereign , ( semi-)functioning adult . While 2 am pizza pie is a pleasure that can be experienced well into maturity , it start out to take its toll the older you are . The bottom line , as always : college kids , stop kvetch . You do n’t know how right you have it .
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