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Higher education can make you fat
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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A new study published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism suggests that students are rapidly gaining weight during their college or university years, which is having a negative impact on their health and academic performance.
"This is a unique study in which we followed students through their time at university. We documented changes in weight, patterns and reasons for weight gain, and differences in weight gain between women and men," says Susan Whiting, a professor of dietetics and nutrition.
"While dozens of studies have looked at the trend toward weight gain during the first year of college, which researchers have dubbed the 'freshman 15,' we looked at the entire college experience. Ours is the first study of its kind to track changes in weight, body mass index, body composition, and body shape over the entire four-year period," says Sareen Grupper, a co-author of the study.
Observation was conducted on 131 students from their first year of college admission until graduation.
After a 4-year course of study, about 70% of the students gained an average of 5.3 - 11.68 kilograms. Men gained weight more intensively than women. The percentage of participants who had problems with extra pounds increased from 18% to 31%.
“College and university students, who are often away from home and don’t have access to home-cooked meals or to cook for themselves on a regular basis, are at risk of developing health problems that can also impact their academic performance,” says Terry Graham, a professor of nutrition at the University of Guelph. “Of course, it’s easy to get back to a healthy weight by balancing the scales between your calorie intake and expenditure and paying attention to your diet. But these problems in youth demonstrate how important it is to monitor your weight in your youth and not put off your health for later.”
After 4 years of observation, the results are not as rosy as we would like, because the changes are significant. Experts say that students need to think about a healthy lifestyle, and the management of educational institutions should take a step towards this desire.
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