Vadeboncoeur Claudia, Townsend Nicholas, Foster Charlie
Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
BMC Obes. 2015 May 28;2:22. doi: 10.1186/s40608-015-0051-7. eCollection 2015.
Observational studies report that as students transfer from secondary school to university, there is a tendency to gain weight. This phenomenon is known as the "Freshman 15" in North America, referring to the claim that on average weight gain is 15 lb (6.8 kg) in the first year of university. Studies since 1985 have mostly found weight gains ranging from 1 kg to 6 kg. Our meta-analysis aimed to update the literature on the "Freshman 15" in the first year of university. We also aimed to explore weight gain in only those who gained weight and perform several subgroup analyses. Given adolescent weight gain is highly linked to overweight and obesity in adults, a better understanding of university student weight gain is crucial if we are to combat the rising adult obesity prevalence.
We conducted a search on six standard electronic databases (including PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo) from 1980 to 2014. Only peer reviewed articles with data from longitudinal studies were included. Screening was performed by two reviewers. The quality of papers was assessed and data extraction was done with a systematic approach.
Thirty two studies were included and 22 studies (5549 students) were included in a pooled mean meta-analysis as they reported standard errors. The overall pooled mean weight gain was 1.36 kg (3lbs) (95 % CI: 1.15 - 1.57) over an average of 5 months. A majority of students, 60.9 %, gained weight during freshman year and these on average gained 3.38 kg (7.5lbs) (95 % CI: 2.85 - 3.92).
Freshman weight gain is an issue with almost two thirds of students gaining weight. Students who gained weight, gained it at rates much faster than in the general population. Despite most universities having some health promotion policies, we denote a consistent weight gain in university students across several countries.
观察性研究报告称，随着学生从中学升入大学，他们有体重增加的趋势。在北美，这种现象被称为“新生15磅”，指的是大学第一年平均体重增加15磅（6.8千克）的说法。自1985年以来的研究大多发现体重增加范围在1千克至6千克之间。我们的荟萃分析旨在更新关于大学第一年“新生15磅”现象的文献。我们还旨在仅对体重增加的学生进行体重增加情况的探究，并进行多项亚组分析。鉴于青少年体重增加与成年人超重和肥胖高度相关，如果我们要应对成人肥胖患病率不断上升的问题，更好地了解大学生体重增加情况至关重要。
我们在1980年至2014年期间对六个标准电子数据库（包括PubMed、Embase、PsycInfo）进行了检索。仅纳入了来自纵向研究且经过同行评审的文章。由两名评审员进行筛选。对论文质量进行评估，并采用系统方法进行数据提取。
纳入了32项研究，其中22项研究（5549名学生）因报告了标准误差而被纳入汇总平均荟萃分析。在平均5个月的时间里，总体汇总平均体重增加为1.36千克（3磅）（95%置信区间：1.15 - 1.57）。大多数学生（60.9%）在大学一年级时体重增加，这些学生平均体重增加3.38千克（7.5磅）（95%置信区间：2.85 - 3.92）。
大学新生体重增加是一个问题，近三分之二的学生体重增加。体重增加的学生，其体重增加速度比普通人群快得多。尽管大多数大学都有一些健康促进政策，但我们发现多个国家的大学生体重持续增加。
