Research
Adherence
Weight gain in first-year university students is not significantly different between males and females, with both gaining approximately 1.3-1.4 kg on average.
Whether you are male or female, you are equally likely to gain about 1.3-1.4 kg in your first year. Do not assume weight gain is a 'women's issue' or that men are immune. The environmental factors driving this gain affect both genders similarly.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Females and males did not differ in their weight gain with each gaining respectively on average 1.34 kg (CI: 1.02–1.65, I2 = 79.9 %), and 1.43 kg (CI: 0.90–1.97, I2 = 83.5 %).
Why this rating
Based on 14 studies with sufficient data for gender-specific meta-analysis.
Source
A meta-analysis of weight gain in first year university students: is freshman 15 a myth?
Claudia Vadeboncoeur et al. · BMC Obesity · 2015
DOI 10.1186/s40608-015-0051-7
Meta-analysis · 32 studiesCited 285×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- First-year university students gain an average of 1.36 kg (3 lbs) during their first year, with 60.9% of students gaining weight and weight gainers averaging 3.38 kg (7.5 lbs).Good
- The majority of weight gain in the first year occurs during the first term (first 4 months), with students gaining 1.24 kg in the first term versus 1.76 kg by the end of the year.Good
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