“Freshman 15” is a myth, study says

News release: Contrary to popular belief, most college students don’t gain anywhere near 15 pounds during their freshman year. A new nationwide study has found that the average student gains between about 2.5 and 3.5 pounds during the first year of college. And college has little to do with the weight gain--the typical freshman only gains about a half-pound more than a same-age person who didn’t go to college. Jay Zagorsky, a research scientist at Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research, and Patricia Smith of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, conducted the study, which will appear in the December 2011 issue of the journal Social Science Quarterly.