Question

Claim: The freshmen 15 is real

Comments

The freshman 15 is not a real concept, it is merely a suggestion based on many gaining a little alcohol and food weight once students have been released of parental control. Everyone is different, everyone's bodies are different.

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The freshman 15 concept is not real. The reason why this saying is so popular is that freshmen have access to an all-you-can dining hall for an entire school year for the first time. As for myself, I gained almost 25 pounds because I was on a heavy bulk because I wanted to put on as much mass as possible. However, it is more of a myth than anything because it does not apply to all freshmen. The link below speaks more about freshmen 15.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diet-myth-or-truth-the-freshman-15#:~:text=For%20years%2C%20incoming%20college%20students,can%20expect%20to%20gain%20weight.

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I am currently a Junior (transfer) at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. Many have told me that I would gain the freshman 15 and it inevitable. I think that it is possible that many people can and will gain the freshman 15 in college but some people many not. This article is a study done to show that gaining the freshman 15 is real because of some factors.  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2532948/

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@PinaColada Claims are best framed as statements. So for this one, you could say "Claim: The freshman 15 is real."

@Gretawedemeyer @jasonchen58 @mariagrimaldo1 for the future, please "answer" the claim rather than "comment" on it. By doing so you can receive upvotes on your answers and have your answer chosen as the best one.

@gretawedemeyer strong fact-checks should include a source link so that readers know where you evidence is coming from and a rating.

@jasonchen58 nice job providing a clear explanation, personal experience, and a source link. Don't forget to add a rating going forward (see the sidebar of this page).

@mariagrimaldo1 nice comment and personal comment. Your explanation could include more details from the study to make it stronger. Also, don't forget to add a rating to your fact-checks going forward (see the sidebar of this page).

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The freshman 15 is a legitimate concept, but it is based off of fear more than fact. Students typically gain 2-5 pounds, not nearly as many as 15. It should be called the freshman 5.

https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/the-freshman-15-is-a-dangerous-myth

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@seanb2 for the future, please "answer" the claim rather than "comment" on it. By doing so you can receive upvotes on your answers and have your answer chosen as the best one. Don't forget to add a rating to your fact-check (see the sidebar of this page).

Answer 1

The freshman 15 is a myth. There was a study done by the National Center for Biotechnology Information that found an average student gains about 2.7 pounds during their first year of college, not 15 pounds. Additionally, 15% of the students lost weight while 33% had no change in their weight. The term Freshman 15 was started by a Seventeen magazine in 1989 and caught on quickly in the United States even though there was no evidence that it was true. A lot of people in their late teenage years tend to gain weight, whether they are in high school or college because they are not fully developed yet. 

https://wellness.asu.edu/blog/freshman-15-fact-fiction#:~:text=However%2C%20college%20newbies%20may%20rest,freshman%20year%2C%20nowhere%20near%2015. 

Answer 2

There was a study done by the National Center for Biotechnology Information that found that on average students gain around 2.7 pounds during their freshman year. I found this evidence on the Arizona State University wellness website. I personally gained 20 pounds during my freshman year and that could be due to a lot of different factors such as eating a lot more, not exercising, and drinking a lot more. So, it depends on the type of person and what they do with their life, but it definitely is not true that everyone gains 15 pounds in their freshman year of college.

https://wellness.asu.edu/blog/freshman-15-fact-fiction#:~:text=However%2C%20college%20newbies%20may%20rest,freshman%20year%2C%20nowhere%20near%2015.

Answer 3

The concept of gaining "The Freshman 15" was talked about at the end of high school. I had ben told that it was inevitable and that it happens to almost everyone. I started to panic and tried to think of how this could be possible. However, this is not always true. I was told that the unlimited, buffet style meals, low activity levels, and the constant late night pizzas were the cause of this weight gain. However, in my own experience, I noticed that the dining hall food got old quickly and the unlimited buffet seemed unappealing. I had always been active so it was never a problem for me to get enough exercise, however, even if you do not exercise consistently, most people walked everywhere so it was easy to get something in. Also this article I found talks about how a study at Auburn University found that only 5% of people gained 15 pounds after their freshman year. In reality, the majority of people gained about half that. While weight gain does happen, it is not nearly 15 pounds.  

https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diet-myth-or-truth-the-freshman-15

Answer 4

The "freshman 15" is actually a myth. While it's fairly common for college freshmen to gain wait during their first year in school, it's very rarely as many as 15 pounds. WebMD cited a study from Auburn University found that only 5% of the school's freshmen gained 15 pounds their first year, concluded overall across a multitude of studies that in reality, average weight gain for college freshmen is 4-10 pounds. In general, students have full control over their weight gain through their eating habits, and any weight gain at all is not something that occurs automatically; it comes as a result of college dining halls and a complete shift in eating habits among students.

Rating: False, Misinformation

Diet Myth or Truth: The Freshman 15 (webmd.com)

Answer 5

The claim that the "Freshman 15 is real", is a widespread phenomenon that is largely a myth, as shown by the research from the NIH article. In the random sample study conducted by NCHA, with a group of 582 freshman that were surveyed, they suggested while weight gain is common among college freshman, it is not as dramatic as gaining 15 pounds, as commonly believed. Instead, the average weight gain is closer to 2.7 pounds. Contributing factors in include changes in eating habits, frequent snacking, larger meal portions, and decreased activity. Fascinatingly, NIH reported there was no relationship between weight change and race or ethnicity and that males tend to gain more weight compared to women, but gaining 15 pounds is an exagerration. To ensure the validity of this claim, I cross-checked by looking up similar studies, and I came across "The Freshman 15 is a Dangerous Myth" from U.S. News. They stated that "reserach suggests the average amount of weight gained is around 2-5 pounds," reinforcing the idea that the idea of freshman 15 is exagerrated and isn't the case for every single college student. These findings show that weight gain is moderate and various from person to person and is based on individual lifestyle choices. 

https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/the-freshman-15-is-a-dangerous-myth

Answer 6

The claim that freshman 15 is real is just a conceptualized myth that college students have created to explain the weight gain many incoming freshman experience in their first year of college. The idea that it applies to all freshman isn’t true. In an article by ASU wellness, they reference a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. This study found that on average, “students gain around 2.7 pounds during their freshman year, nowhere near 15. In fact, 15 percent of students in the study lost weight during the year, while 33 percent of students experienced no change in weight at all.” So while it is common to gain a few pounds while adjusting to a new college lifestyle, everybody reacts to the change differently and it is just likely to lose weight as well. An article by Children’s Minnesota states the different aspects and causes of weight gain for freshman in college. “College is also a time of change, and the stress of acclimating to school can trigger overeating. People sometimes eat in response to anxiety, homesickness, sadness, or stress, and all of these can be part of adapting to being away at school.” College offers a new sense of freedom and with that freedom comes constant temptations. In the dining hall, you are free to eat whatever you want and however much you want. These choices vary from person to person and that is why we cannot make the claim that freshman 15 is applicable to every freshman. While it may be true for some, there is not enough evidence to show it will affect everyone. It is merely a suggested claim. 

https://wellness.asu.edu/blog/freshman-15-fact-fiction

https://www.childrensmn.org/educationmaterials/teens/article/9255/beating-the-freshman-15/#:~:text=In%20addition%2C%20you%20may%20not,to%20being%20away%20at%20school.