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Two new studies out this weekend — and reported in the papers today — unveil the welcome news that there’s no such thing as the “freshman fifteen,” the mythical fifteen extra pounds a student packs on in his first year of college. But don’t get too excited: It turns out instead that students just put on weight gradually, five to seven pounds in year one and another two to three as sophomores. But we noticed that the study looked at all college students, on a nationwide basis. Surely here in New York, we figured, where there’s a gym on every corner and we’re all obsessively appearance-focused, things couldn’t be so bad. In fact, we more expected to hear of the opposite problems — anorexia and the like. So we went digging through the archives of the Columbia Daily Spectator and NYU’s Washington Square News and, sure enough, we hit pay dirt. Just one month ago — on September 26 — the Washington Square News quoted a New York psychiatrist, Dr. Joanne Labiner, who said that 20 percent of college-age women have an eating disorder.
Then again, of course they do. A new study just proved they’re too fat.
— Doree Shafrir
Studies: College Kids Packing on the Pounds [AP via NYP]
