Revised Introduction

College students face many challenges, one of which is weight gain, commonly called the freshmen fifteen.  It’s the tendency to gain fifteen your first year.  This is an issue because obesity is on the rise.  Obesity can cause various illnesses, and even death.  Students must understand causes of weight gain and potential preventative measures.  Although freshmen fifteen is a common term, conflicting studies have questioned its validity.

A 2010 study discovered that students actually gain 2.7 on average (Mihalopoulous, et. al).  A similar study concluded that freshmen students gained 2.1 pounds on average (Gropper et. al).  These studies failed to investigate weight gain causes.  This study examines factors that freshmen believe contribute to weight gain.