Weight Gain in First-year University Students

Summary

The transition to university from secondary school comes with many changes to living arrangements, dietary and alcohol intake, physical activity, and stress. The purpose of this study is to explore weight gain in new university students in the UK under the 'Freshman15' phenomenon. This phenomenon is an expression commonly used in the United States and Canada to describe a weight gain of 15 lbs (6.8 kg) in students who transition from secondary school to university life. The research will assess to investigate the impact of lifestyle factors that predict students' weight gain during their first year at the University of Aberdeen. The study specifically focuses on how these factors vary based on their living arrangement. Also, the change in lifestyle will be explored in relation to age-matched individuals not-attending The transition to university from secondary school comes with many changes to living arrangements, dietary and alcohol intake, physical activity, and stress. The purpose of this study is to explore weight gain in new university students in the UK under the 'Freshman15' phenomenon. This phenomenon is an expression commonly used in the United States and Canada to describe a weight gain of 15 lbs (6.8 kg) in students who transition from secondary school to university life. First aim: To investigate the impact of lifestyle factors that predict students' weight gain during their first year at the University of Aberdeen. The study specifically focuses on how these factors vary based on their living arrangement. Also, the change in lifestyle will be explored in relation to age-matched individuals not-attending university. Second aim: To examine changes in weight, living arrangements, dietary intake, physical activity, sleep and stress after one year at university with previous participation students who moved to their second year to understand the influence that university life has on these trends compared to their first visit at the beginning of their first year at the university.

Conditions

• Obesity

Interventions

DEVICE

Weight and body composition change

1- Anthropometric Measurements: Body Weight (BW), Body Mass Index (BMI), Sitting Height Ratio (SHR), Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR), Finger Ratio (FR), Body Fat (BF%), and Weight-for-age growth charts. (Single measure)

BEHAVIORAL

Change in dietary intake

1. 24-hour recalls using Intake24 (online survey) over 3-day. 2. Self reported questionnaire. (Single measure)

DEVICE

Change in physical activity

1. ActiGraph GT9X Link accelerometer over 7-day. 2. Self reported questionnaire. (Single measure)

BEHAVIORAL

Change in stress

1- Self reported questionnaire. (Single measure)

BEHAVIORAL

Change in socio-demographic characteristics

1- Self reported questionnaire. (Single measure)

DEVICE

Change in sleep

ActiGraph GT9X Link accelerometer over 7-day. (Single measure)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Jazan

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• University of Aberdeen

  lead OTHER

Eligibility

Min Age

17 Years

Max Age

20 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-09-15

Primary Completion

2024-04-30

Completion

2024-04-30

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations