ResearchResearch and Professional BriefBody Weight and Percent Body Fat Increase during the Transition from High School to University in Females
Section snippets
Study Design and Participants
This was a noncontrolled, descriptive cohort study. A convenience sample of 128 incoming first-year female students was recruited through posters, hand-distributed flyers, campus advertisements (online and newspaper), and word of mouth. Eligibility criteria included: age 17 to 20 years; acceptance to the University of Guelph; intention to live away from home; and not pregnant. Written informed consent was obtained with parental consent for those younger than 18 years. Approval was from the
Results and Discussion
The major finding of this study was that there was a substantial increase in body weight of 2.4 kg during the first 6 to 7 months of university in a sample of Canadian university females (Table 1). Observed weight gain is similar to that reported by some investigators (11, 13), but higher than that of others (8, 12, 14, 15). Differences may be attributed to higher attrition rates (30% to 34%) in studies in which low weight gain was reported (9, 10, 12, 15) compared to the attrition rate in this
Conclusions
In conclusion, these exploratory results suggest that the term freshman 15 may not be accurate for describing weight gain in first-year university students because average weight gain in a group of 116 first-year female university students was 2.4 kg during 6 to 7 months. However, weight gain at this rate during an extended period of time could lead to overweight/obesity and is certainly cause for concern. Our results also suggest that a decrease in moderate physical activity could play a role
M. J. Edmonds is a clinical dietitian, Etobicoke General Hospital, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada; at the time of the study, she was a student, Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
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Cited by (0)
M. J. Edmonds is a clinical dietitian, Etobicoke General Hospital, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada; at the time of the study, she was a student, Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
K. J. Ferreira is employed at the Natural Health Products Division, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; at the time of the study, she was a student, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
E. A. Nikiforuk is a student, Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; at the time of the study, she was a student, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
A. K. Finnie is a dietetic intern, Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; at the time of the study, she was a student, Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
S. H. Leavey is a medical student, University of Ottawa Medical School, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; at the time of the study, she was a student, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
A. M. Duncan is associate professor, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
J. A. Randall Simpson is assistant professor, Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.