No more Freshman 15?

What was once the Freshman 15 is now the Freshman 30. When I was in college, all undergrads worried about gaining 15 pounds in their first year. The food served in the cafeterias was so different than we were used to. What's more is that there were no boundaries as to what we could and should eat. Our parents weren't there to tell us we'd had enough food or that we should chose a different option for dinner. We were able to make our own decisions, and some continued to live as they were taught and others rebounded once they saw the extra weight around their waist. Now, however, it seems undergrads are fearing the freshman 30. Or should I say they are jokingly embracing the upper limits of average freshman year weight gain.

There are now more options than there were ten years ago when I was in school. Fast foods and foods that are higher in fat content are more acceptable. Students are also coping with more stresses, mostly self imposed based on societal views, and that means they cope in different ways. They cope with food. They don't exercise as much, as there are more distractions and activities that students feel are more important.

The new Freshman 30 could also be caused by a change in values parents impart on their children. Instead of teaching them how to live healthy they just make them live healthy while they're at home and then they cut them free when it's time to go to school. Once away and on campus, these younglings do not know how to maintain that lifestyle. They have never learned how to make appropriate decisions. They have not learned how to portion and enjoy smaller amounts of the things they love.

Whatever the cause, the Freshman 30 is reason for concern. We are becoming more and more a society of extremes. While we have a growing population of undergraduate students who are gaining more weight, we have a growing number of co-eds who are dieting extremely and exercising strenuously. There is a happy medium, and that medium doesn't have to consist of increasing a clothing size from small to the above, or from medium to large.