Beating the Freshman 15

Kevin Brawley

College is a time of choices: classes, housing, and one of the most importantly eating. The Freshman 15 is synonymous with college life. When going to college, students' eating habits will be tested for many reasons: 1. Classes will get in the way of normal eating times; 2. It will be easier to eat junk food, rather than sitting down and eating a balanced meal; and 3. No one will be there to make you eat healthy, it is up to the student. According to kidshealth.org, the change in environment and the stress brought on by getting acclimated to the new lifestyle can make one overeat.

According to a study done by Nicole L. Mihalopoulos, MD, MPH, Peggy Auinger, MS, and Jonathan D. Klein, MD, MPH, Freshman 15: Is it Real?, they found out that, out of the 131 freshman surveyed, 30% gained from 1-5 lbs, 17% gained from 6-14 lbs, 5% gained from 15+ lbs, 15% actually lost weight, and finally 33% had no change. Recently, doctors from Georgia Tech have been trying to come up with an easy way to prevent, or help lose, the freshman 15. Jiten Chhabra, MD, Daniel Serrano, and Chad Bonner, all created a computer program called Dr. J Says, which provides healthy menus for students customized with each students profile in mind. This program can get students onto a positive foot on healthy eating habits that will help prevent or help lose the freshman 15.

Having healthy lifestyles is a good way to get the best education one could get. Without fueling the body the proper way, students will become easily distracted. Eating healthy and avoiding the freshman 15 to begin with can greatly reduce the chances of getting sick which leads to missing classes.