Students gain 10 pounds when they get to college by boozing, cutting exercise, and gorging on all the foods their parents banned 

  • Students started school year in 2011 weighing average of 147 pounds
  • By the end of their four-year course, they weighed an average of 157 pounds
  • Few students ate enough fruit or veg; only 15% did sufficient exercise 

By Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published: 15:18 EST, 12 December 2016 | Updated: 18:40 EST, 12 December 2016

Students leave university 10 pounds heavier than when they enrolled, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Vermont followed 117 students at a northeastern university from 2011 to 2016. 

At the beginning of their college careers, the mean weight of students surveyed in the study was about 147 pounds.

By the end of senior year, it had increased to about 157 pounds.

Few of them ate anywhere near the recommended daily amount of vegetables, a majority drank highly-calorific alcohol three times a week.

And only 15 percent exercised enough. 

Researchers warn it is a concerning indication of over-eating and inactivity among teenagers that could lead to devastating health complications in later life.

Pizza and party: Students left university 10lbs heavier than when they enrolled, researchers found

'These findings suggests that health practitioners should not limit their programming to just to that first year,' lead author Dr Lizzy Pope said, 'but extend it over all four years of the college experience.'

Dr Pope, along with a team in the Nutrition and Food Sciences Department at the University of Vermont, measured student weight and body-mass-index at the beginning and end of students' first and second semesters and again at the end of their senior year. 

The majority of participants were female, 93 percent of participants were white, and 23 percent of the students in the study were overweight or obese when they started college.

By the end of senior year, 41 percent were obese or overweight - a 78 percent increase.

They also surveyed their exercise and eating habits.  

Only 15 percent of the sample met the exercise target of 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week.

For most students, fruit and vegetable consumption was also below the recommended intake.

And all of them reported drinking highly calorific alcohol.

There seemed to be an anomaly in that all of the students claimed to eat far fewer calories than recommended.

However, Dr Pope believes that the students may have under-reported their results, since that did not reflect their dramatic weight gain over four years.

The researchers warn obesity at a young age makes people more likely to suffer obesity-related health issues in later life, including hypertension, diabetes, and even cognitive issues. 

Indeed, just last week an Israeli study revealed evidence that showed obesity during adolescence could lead to poor brain function in later life - whether or not they lose weight in their 20s and 30s. 

Students gained roughly a third of the weight in their first year - about three pounds on average.

However, they also gained in other years.

The finding de-bunks the myth of the 'freshman 15' - the widely-held idea that first-year university students put on 15 pounds by summer. 

But it points to more pressing issues later in one's university career.

The researchers said it is an important finding for the design of behavior-related interventions meant to help them keep the pounds off.  

'This study and earlier ones suggest that college students are prone to weight gain that can impact their health in the present and even more significantly in the future,' said Dr Pope. 

'An important element of any strategy to stem the obesity epidemic would be to target this population with behavioral interventions over all four years of their college experience.' 

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