By JESSICA LEPORE
Contributing Writer
The common phrase the “freshman fifteen” is told to incoming students as they make their way to college. Whether these two words really live up to its definition or not is the question.
The phenomenon of gaining these extra pounds in your first year as a college student is most commonly due to all the food that you now have access to. With just a walk off campus (or even on campus) endless fast food restaurants are at your fingertips. The increased access to alcohol also has a major contribution to this weight gain, or just being plain lazy.
Living in Brubacher Hall my first year at Saint Rose and having to commit to a ten minute walk to campus every time I had class made it hard to gain any weight. But every college is different; with friends going to school across the country, I was able to infer different opinions on this topic.
Rachael Cerutti, who is an incoming junior at the University of Connecticut, explains her experience: “I didn’t gain any weight freshman year, but I did gain a few pounds my sophomore year. Although, I don’t think the term of fifteen pounds is very accurate, because it is never that much weight,” said Cerutti. Rachael has an on campus meal plan, where she has access to food from her school and very rarely goes off campus to eat.
Leah Wassermann, an incoming junior at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., has a different type of eating system. “I think it depends on your eating options. At GW we didn’t have an all you can eat cafeteria and we had over half of our meal plan so that we were able to go out to eat at places like Whole Foods and Sweet Green. More availability for healthy food means you are less likely to overeat,” Wassermann explained. These two simple explanations really demonstrate how different schools vary in the way food is offered.
After two years of experience with a new atmosphere, I have come to realize that the people you surround yourself with are bound to influence you in life, including eating and exercise habits. Enjoying a meal with friends is a common social experience, but without even recognizing what is happening, you are indulging in greasy, deep fried foods just because you’re friends are there to enjoy it with you. And realistically, if you have a choice between hanging out with your friends and going to the gym, there is a slim chance you will pick the gym. Depending on the college campus, the food choices and your habits, everyone is different with the common phrase “the freshman fifteen”.
From what I have seen and heard, it is never actually fifteen pounds, it is either a couple pounds or way over that number. According to recent surveys, the average weight gain (if any) is 6.5-9 pounds among college students. Entering college most likely means living away from home, with less supervision of what you are putting in your body and the activity you are partaking in. Finding a positive group of people to surround yourself with from the start is a major component in how the rest of your college career will turn out.
