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November 26, 2006 veteret796

Holiday Gobbling Weighs Down Students  

BOSTON — If there are college kids at your Thanksgiving table, don’t encourage them to gobble so much. New research suggests that the typical student leaves the holiday weekend as stuffed as the turkey, gaining more than a pound during the short break.

I thought this article was so interesting! Not only did it pertain to the time (Thanksgiving), but it was a study done on college students! The article even stated the common need for homemade food – this is something I’ve definitely been having a problem with. The cafeteria food, in my opinion, is a C-. Most of the time I’m sick after eating it, so I tend to stick with the basics: bagel, cereal, sandwhich, etc. It’s no wonder us college ‘kids’ are gaining a pound or two when we go home, we’re deprived of GOOD food for months at a time! Besides, isn’t Thanksgiving known for feasting and eating as much as possible?! The main theme of the holiday is food!

Holly Hull is the nutrition scientist responsible for making this experiment possible. She and her colleagues at the University of Oklahoma in Norman weighed 94 students the week before Thanksgiving and within a week of their return to classes (a span of roughly 12 days). The results were as follows: students gained an average of 1.1 pounds. That translates to an extra 320 daily calories, “which would be about a slice of pumpkin pie per day,” she said.

Although I found this article interesting, it didn’t really “speak” to me. I don’t really know what the big deal of 1.1 pounds is? The study was unique because of its focus – strictly on college students – but it has obviously been done before.

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3 Comments Add your own

• 1. jennpress  |  November 27, 2006 at 4:01 am

  I agree with you, I do not think that 1.1 lbs is anything to be worried about. I mean, this probably adds up to my freshman 15 that i ’should’ gain this year according to different studies that they have made with first year college students. I also agree with you when you say that the food in the cafeteria is trash and college students are always longing for the taste of a home cooked meal. I really don’t mind gaining 1.1 nor 5 pounds because I hardly eat in school anyways. So, i raither gain 15 pounds on home food than 15 pounds on school food any time!

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• 2. Raysa Betances  |  November 29, 2006 at 11:25 pm

  I most say i agree with u too. I mean for a college student to go home and not gain weight is riduclous, especailly during thanksgiving time. By the time a college student has 1 month away from home, they are eager for that home cooked food so why not indulge when your around it. 1 pound really isnt anything serious. It probably is just part of the freshmen 15.

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• 3. ladya  |  December 1, 2006 at 2:01 pm

  I totally agree. When I went home for Thanksgiving break, I pigged out!! Not only on my home cooked food, but also fast foods that are in Brooklyn ( Home town) that are not in Albany. And it does go back to being homesick because when i tasted my mother’s turkey, it brought me back to past Thanksgivings and how much i missed my family. And believe me a 1.1 pound is alot. When you add it to the freshman 15 and the MONTH we have off, it can add up.

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