Many college students don't gain the dreaded freshman 15 their first year away from home, but they do pack on 6 to 9 pounds, two studies show.
Why? Key reasons include dramatic increases in beer drinking and significant decreases in physical activity.
The latest studies were conducted at Indiana University in Bloomington and Tufts University in Boston. Indiana researchers surveyed 272 female students and 149 men on the campus about their weight and living habits. The findings, presented at the meeting of the Obesity Society this month in Phoenix:
*60% of students said they gained weight from the beginning of their freshman year to the beginning of their sophomore year. The women said they put on 7 1/2 pounds; men, almost 9.
*67% of the women gained weight from the beginning of their freshman year to the beginning of the senior year, putting on an average of 10 pounds; 86% of men gained an average of 14 pounds during that time.
*76% of female students and 33% of males say they eat when under stress.
The Indiana researchers also found that college students were drinking more and exercising less than they did in high school. Male students reported drinking two to four times the number of beers they drank each week while in high school. Depending on the brand and type, 12 ounces of beer has 100 to 175 calories.
Female students reported doubling or tripling their beer intake, although they generally drank fewer beers than their male counterparts.
Both men and women report doing aerobic exercise two to three times a week in college, compared with the four times a week they worked out as high school seniors.
Amanda Wood, a researcher on the Indiana study, says the weight gain doesn't "magically stop after the freshman year" if students continue their unhealthy habits, including drinking a lot of beer and not exercising. "If you go out three nights a week and have four beers each night, there's your 12 beers a week, and that's a lot of extra calories."
Tufts University researchers analyzed data on 322 students and found that those who gained put on an average of 6 1/2 pounds their freshman year and an average 10 pounds total during their college careers.
The freshman year is a crucial time for students in transition to making their own decisions, says researcher Jennifer Sacheck, an assistant professor of nutrition at Tufts. They need to be cautious in cafeterias about portion sizes and returning for seconds, she says.
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
??? Copyright 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.