Research
Energy balance
The holiday season does not cause significant weight gain in children or college students, though it may increase body fat in college students.
For children and college students, holiday weight gain is not a significant concern based on current data, though college students may see an increase in body fat.
LimitedRefutesLOW confidence
The only study in college students found an effect on body fat but not on weight (0.1 kg, p = 0.71). The only study found in children did not show an effect on BMI percentile (-0.4%, p > 0.05) during this period.
Why this rating
Based on very few studies (one each for children and college students), limiting generalizability.
Source
Effect of the Holiday Season on Weight Gain: A Narrative Review
Rolando Giovanni Díaz-Zavala et al. · Journal of Obesity · 2017
DOI 10.1155/2017/2085136
narrative_reviewCited 74×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- The holiday season (late November to mid-January) causes significant weight gain in adults, with gains of 0.4 to 0.9 kg that are rarely lost subsequently.Moderate
- Self-monitoring interventions (e.g., daily weighing, phone calls, mailings) during the holiday season can prevent or significantly reduce weight gain in adults.Moderate
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