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.

ISSN

1857-9655

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

85059937768

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series

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Life Sciences Commons

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