The Freshman 15—Dieting and Eating
Habits of College Students

     

    Are the freshman fifteen following you?
    Who are these guys anyway?

    Beginning school is a major life changing experience. Don’t believe it? Two researchers, Holmes and Rahe, have been charting the life altering ability of various events in our lives since 1967. On their most recent report, they gave 38 points (life change units) for beginning or ending school or college. This by itself is impressive. However, think about this: being jailed was given only 75 points (life change units) (Varcarolis 2003 p.270). You would think there would be no comparison, but apparently there is.

    For most of us, change means stress, and stress in turn brings about its own changes. Specifically, stress can dramatically change our dietary habits. So, is this why the freshman fifteen follow us? Well, yes and no. Stress has been known to increase or decrease food intake, depending on the individual. Some of us use comfort foods to cope with stress, while others loose their appetites. The "comfort foods" are notoriously hi-calorie/low nutrition foods that help us fill emotional needs. These extra calories can make the freshman fifteen part of your first year (if you have not figured it out yet, the freshman fifteen is actually pounds that can adhere to you in your first year of college). A potentially worse scenario may await those that loose weight from lack of appetite. Under stress there is an increased need for good nutrition, and unfortunately most of us find nutrition to be the last thing on our minds during these periods. This can lead to deficiencies and overall poor performance.

    What to do? Be aware of stress in your life. Like it or not, stress will try to accompany your entire college career. Learn about stress, and how to reduce it. Consider ways to cope with stress that will not impair your nutritional status. Information on stress can be found in MCCCs online Health Promotion Nursing Center or on the following link—www.ivf.com/stress.html

    Dieting

    Almost every student tries dieting at one point in time while attending college. With all of the different diets out there not all of them work and some are very unhealthy for the average individual. Here is a list of some of the more popular diets out there today.

    • Atkins
    • Weight Watchers
    • South Beach
    • The Zone
    • Nutri/Systems
    • Jenny Craig
    • Slim Fast
    • Sugar Busters

    Although many people think that if they just follow their diet they will automatically lose weight but that is not always true. Here are some more tips to help with the dieting process: "drink water, try not to eat past 7pm, pack for meals and snacks, cut your food portions in half, eat smaller but more frequent meals, start exercising, weigh yourself every morning, start your own diet food list, take one day at a time and try not to loose weight too quickly".

    Eating Healthy on the Go

    Everyone is so busy with very full schedules, especially college students. They say it is common for the average freshman to gain 15 pounds in their first year. For many reasons some of us do, first time being on our own making our own decisions without our parents watching every move.

    We have listed here some simple steps to help avoid the "Freshman 15" and how to make smart choices when it comes to eating on the go.

    1. Go food shopping on a full stomach, not an empty stomach where everything is going to look so good. If you have a full stomach you will be more inclined to choose healthier foods.
    2. Choose healthy snacks that you can pack in your school bag such as fruit. Strawberries, grapes, apples etc. There are many choices.
    3. Buy bottled water; by eliminating soda and other high sugar drinks that eliminates a lot of empty calories.
    4. Don’t skip breakfast!! That truly is the most important meal. Breakfast gives you the energy you need to make it through school, also gets your metabolism moving.
    5. Exercise. Get outside 3-4 times a week for at least thirty minutes and do an activity that you like, join a group, sign up for runs, go bike riding. Exercise plays a very big role in helping to maintain your weight but also provides other great benefits such as stress reduction and strengthens your heart. Overall, exercise can make you feel GREAT!!

    These are just a few ideas to help you get started in a healthier active life style.

    Understanding the Nutrition Labels

    Nutrition food labels provide information about nutrients in the food. Understanding how to read these labels can help you make better choices in food selection when shopping at the grocery store.

    Provided below are two resources to help you understand food labeling.

    1. http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/foodlabel/newlabel.html
      This is an official FDA website that gives details on every part of the food label. This more of a technical website but provides lots of information.
    2. http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/labels.html
      This second website is great for the whole family. It is very simple and easy to understand and provides parents with the information on how to keep their family healthy.

    Eating Disorders

    Eating disorders are a serious health problem for adolescents and young adults and they can have devastating effects on the families of those who suffer from them. Although eating disorders are seen most frequently in adolescent girls and young women, men can suffer from them too. Some research estimates that as many as 1 in 6 people suffering from an eating disorder is male. Women and girls who participate in sports such as gymnastics, running, figure skating and ballet, as well as men who participate in bodybuilding, have a higher prevalence of eating disorders than the general public.

    Did you know…

    Anorexia nervosa

    Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a chronic failure to maintain a body weight within 15% of normal. Anorectics can be of two types: restrictive and purging. In the restrictive type, the person refuses to eat an adequate amount of food but does not engage in purging activities such as self induced vomiting or laxative and diuretic abuse. In the purging type, the person may periodically binge eat and then purge afterwards. Anorectics typically are preoccupied with thoughts of food and may spend an unusually large amount of time exercising. They may perceive themselves as fat even when they are severely underweight. Anorectics may experience muscle weakness, dehydration, swelling of their hands and feet, and severe heart problems.

    Bulimia nervosa

    In bulimia nervosa, the person engages in recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by purging. Bulimia is sometimes harder to detect because the person usually maintains a normal or near normal weight. Bulimics are more likely than anorectics to come from chaotic families and to have other problems with impulse control such as kleptomania, risky sexual behavior, and abuse of drugs and alcohol. Bulimics often suffer from dental erosion and enlarged parotid glands from frequent vomiting, and they too can have severe heart problems as a result of their purging behaviors.

    Do you have a healthy relationship with food? Take this quiz to find out.
    Download a brochure on "Emotional Eating" (pdf)

    Additional Web Sites

    For more information about these and other eating disorders, visit the following web sites.

    References

    Varcarolis, E. M. (2002). Foundations of psychiatric mental health nursing (4th ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders.

    Photos courtesy of Freefoto.com.

    Developed by NUR 211 nursing students as part of their Health Promotion Nursing Center
    Volunteer Activities: Maryjo Amodei, Lisa Klepacki, Cliff Roach, Lisa Starr
    For comments or additional questions, contact ddalrymp@mc3.edu