Document Type
Article
Source of Publication
Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
© 2018 Suzan A. Haidar, Nanne de Vries, Dimitrios Papandreou, Rana Rizk, Mirey Karavetian. BACKGROUND: When transitioning from high school to university, students tend to gain weight. AIM: The study aimed to identify whether Lebanese students experience weight changes during the transition and to identify predisposing factors. METHODS: Eighty freshman students from four campuses in Lebanon were recruited in October 2015. Students were assessed anthropometrically and biochemically at two-time points, seven months apart. Students filled out questionnaires assessing demographic and lifestyle habits, physical activity levels, nutrition knowledge, sleep quality, and stress. RESULTS: The students gained approximately 4.19 lbs. (1.90 kg). There was a significant increase in waist circumference, blood glucose and triglyceride levels. There were no significant changes in HDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, knowledge score, stress level, physical activity, sleep and lifestyle habits. CONCLUSIONS: Lebanese students do gain weight during their first year of university enrollment. Future research is necessary to assess the reasons for weight gain and develop suitable prevention programs.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume
6
Issue
11
First Page
2214
Last Page
2220
Disciplines
Life Sciences
Keywords
College students, Freshman 15, Obesity, Stress, Weight gain
Scopus ID
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Haidar, Suzan A.; de Vries, Nanne K.; Papandreou, Dimitrios; Rizk, Rana; and Karavetian, Mirey, "The freshman weight gain phenomenon: Does it apply to Lebanese students?" (2018). All Works. 3450.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/3450
Indexed in Scopus
yes
Open Access
yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series
