By Cheryl Koch, M.S., R.D. Provided by: Johns Hopkins University

Eat Right, Stay Fit

Freshman 15: Fact or Fiction? By Cheryl Koch, M.S., R.D. - Posted Wed, Aug 31, 2005, 1:04 pm PDT

Showing 76-82 of 82 Comments

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  • 76. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Mon, Aug 21, 2006, 5:30 pm PDT

    alcohol is the biggest reason that kids gain weight during college. i myself fell into that category, gaining about 5 pounds in my first semester at school. Kids aren't going to be turned off by the dangers of overdosing, because they want to fit in. Inform them of how many calories a drink has (for example, a margherita has 800 calories, while one long island iced tea packs a wholloping 1200). search around the internet for statistics and face your teens with them (just b/c they say they don't drink doesn't mean that they abstain, so talk to them). a college student that parties will probably consume about 4-10 drinks in a single weekend, and they'll try for higher and higher numbers just to show off. and when students drink, they snack. the snacking occurs at late night/ early morning hours, because that's when the parties take place. the alcohol tires them and they fall asleep as soon as they step foot into their dorm room, so not only do they end up with 5 times the calories they should have had, but the sleep and eat combination completely kills their metabolism. many students will not realize that their metabolism is dead until that pudge starts to take physical form, so they'll keep drinking heavily to have fun. so even if drinking seems like fun, it needs to be done sparingly and responsibly. your kids will be a lot healthier if they do.

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  • 77. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Mon, Aug 21, 2006, 5:31 pm PDT

    alcohol is the biggest reason that kids gain weight during college. i myself fell into that category, gaining about 5 pounds in my first semester at school. Kids aren't going to be turned off by the dangers of overdosing, because they want to fit in. Inform them of how many calories a drink has (for example, a margherita has 800 calories, while one long island iced tea packs a wholloping 1200). search around the internet for statistics and face your teens with them (just b/c they say they don't drink doesn't mean that they abstain, so talk to them). a college student that parties will probably consume about 4-10 drinks in a single weekend, and they'll try for higher and higher numbers just to show off. and when students drink, they snack. the snacking occurs at late night/ early morning hours, because that's when the parties take place. the alcohol tires them and they fall asleep as soon as they step foot into their dorm room, so not only do they end up with 5 times the calories they should have had, but the sleep and eat combination completely kills their metabolism. many students will not realize that their metabolism is dead until that pudge starts to take physical form, so they'll keep drinking heavily to have fun. so even if drinking seems like fun, it needs to be done sparingly and responsibly. your kids will be a lot healthier if they do.

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  • 78. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Mon, Aug 21, 2006, 5:33 pm PDT

    You have to keep track of the calories you take in.

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  • 79. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Mon, Aug 21, 2006, 5:37 pm PDT

    Let's not forget that it's illegal to drink alcohol if you are under 21.

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  • 80. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Thu, Mar 08, 2007, 4:51 pm PST

    I actually lost weight my freshman year. If you are on a large campus you walk everywhere. With all the pressures put on to college students weight gain is not what you should be worried about your first year on your own.

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  • 81. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Thu, Mar 08, 2007, 4:51 pm PST

    I actually lost weight my freshman year. If you are on a large campus you walk everywhere. With all the pressures put on to college students weight gain is not what you should be worried about your first year on your own.

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  • 82. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Fri, Mar 09, 2007, 1:01 pm PST

    True and False. I gained 20 lbs. in 4 years. I have seen girls to gain much more. Bottom line...food choices are horrible. There's the cafe and fast food. I was given an allowance so I couldn't spend a lot of money on healthy food. But I'm glad to say those 20lbs are now gone, after a little excercise.

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