1. Impact of the freshman 15 myth on intentions to practice healthy behaviors
Sarah M. Roe, Zachary Cronkhite, Jennifer Camarata, Logan Scholtus, Hannah Wells, Andrea Bury, Stephanie Tillmann, Haliegh Cowan, Mikayla Dwyer
Faculty Advisor: Kelly Danaher
Iowa Wesleyan College
Introduction
•The “Freshman 15” myth appears in popular media (Brown, 2008),
yet college freshmen only gain 3 to 5 pounds in their first year (Vella-
Zarb & Elgar, 2009). Although not as drastic as the stereotype
suggests, college freshmen gain weight at a greater rate than other
groups (Racette, Deusinger, Strube, Highstein, & Deusinger, 2005).
•To understand why college freshmen are at an increased risk of
weight gain, researchers have investigated many variables including
alcohol (Lloyd-Richardson, Lucero, DiBello, Jacobson, & Wing, 2008),
self-efficacy (Boyle & LaRose, 2008), and access to healthy food
(LaCaille, Dauner, Krambeer, & Pederson, 2011).
•We explored whether self-stereotyping, ascribing the freshman 15
stereotypes to the self through trait descriptions and behaviors,
undermines self-efficacy and a desire to practice healthy habits.
Overview
•We activated the freshman 15 stereotype by having participants read
a vignette depicting the freshman year experience as a time of weight
relevant concerns. Other participants read a vignette depicting the
freshman year experience as a time of personal growth, and another
group of participants did not read a vignette.
•We measured expected dietary and exercise behaviors, along with
self-efficacy for eating healthy, exercising, and controlling weight.
Hypotheses
•Those in the freshman 15 stereotype condition will report a desire to
practice less healthy eating and exercise behaviors in the near future
and report lower self-efficacy for eating healthy, exercising, and
controlling weight compared to those in both control conditions
(personal growth and no information).
Methods
Participants
•Participants were 63 Iowa Wesleyan College (IWC) students in lower
level introductory courses to get a sample of mostly freshmen and
sophomores.
•Participants were mostly white (n = 37), with 2 American Indian, 4
Hispanic, 1 Asian/Pacific Islander, 8 Black, and 9 other/mixed. Mean
age was 20 years old (SD = 3.77).
•Reasoning that non-US citizens would not be familiar with the
freshman 15 stereotype, non-US citizens (n = 6, 10%) were excluded
from data analyses.
•Given that the freshman 15 is most relevant and likely most salient to
underclass students, we excluded juniors (n = 3, 4.8%), and seniors (n
= 6, 9.5%) from data analyses. Examination of the manipulation check
revealed that regardless of condition, none of the juniors or seniors
referenced the freshman 15 or weight gain.
•The final sample (n = 47) consisted of 33 freshmen and 15
sophomores.
Procedure
•After obtaining informed consent, we administered the survey packet
containing the manipulation and measures, which took no longer than
fifteen minutes to complete.
•Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions
(freshman 15, personal growth, or no information). The condition
manipulation information appeared first in the survey packet and was
immediately followed by the measures.
Discussion
•We found no support for our hypothesis that activation of the freshman 15
stereotype would undermine weight relevant behaviors. There were no significant
differences across the three conditions (freshman 15, personal growth, no
information) on expected dietary and exercise behaviors or self-efficacy.
•A weak manipulation is the main limitation of the study. The manipulation data
suggest that our manipulation was not strong enough to activate the freshmen 15
stereotype. Only 33% of the participants in the freshman 15 condition freely listed
weight as coming to mind when thinking about the freshman experience.
Furthermore, weight relevant concerns were also activated for those in the personal
growth condition. This suggests that both vignettes activated the freshman 15
stereotype, though neither condition was significantly different from the control
condition.
•An additional limitation was our small sample size. We started with 63 participants,
but after excluding juniors and seniors and non-U.S. citizens, we were left with 47
participants.
•Future research should further explore how myths about the freshman 15 may
contribute to freshman weight gain by using stronger manipulations. Perhaps popular
media sources could be used to activate the myth.
References
Boyle, J. R., & LaRose, N. R. (2008). Personal beliefs, the environment, and college student's exercise and eating
behaviors. American Journal of Health Studies, 195-200.
Brown, C. (2008). The information trail of the ‘Freshman 15’—a systematic review of a health myth within the
research and popular literature. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 1-12.
LaCaille, L. J. (2011). Psychosocial and environmental determinants of eating behaviors, physical activity, and
weight change among college students: A qualitative analysis. Journal of American College Health, 59 (6), 531-538.
Hoelscher, D. M., Day, R. S., Kelder, S.H., & Ward, J.L. (2003). Reproducibility and validity of the secondary level
School-Based Nutrition Monitoring student questionnaire. Journal of American Diet Association, 103,186-194.
Lloyd-Richardson, E. E., Lucero, M. L., DiBello, J. R., Jacobson, A. E., & Wing, R. R. (2008). The relationship
between alcohol use, eating habits and weight change in college freshmen. Eat Behavior, 1-8.
Racette, S. B. (2005). Weight changes, exercise, and dietary patterns during freshman and sophomore years of
college. Journal of American College Health, 53 (6), 245-251.
Vella-Zarb, R. A., & Elgar, F. J. (2009). The ‘Freshman 5’: A meta-analysis of weight gain in the freshman year of
college. Journal of American College Health, 58 (2), 161-166.
Methods Continued
Procedure Continued
•At the start of the study, participants were simply told of our interest in the
college student experience. The participants were all debriefed at the end of
the study to inform them of the purpose of the study and accurately inform
participants that the freshman 15 is in fact a myth.
Manipulation
•In the experimental condition, participants read information designed to
activate the freshman 15 stereotype. In one of the control conditions,
participants read information designed to activate thoughts about personal
growth. Both conditions described the freshman year experience as a time of
developing independence, but stressed different aspects. The freshman 15
condition focused on weight relevant behaviors; whereas the personal growth
condition focused on personal growth. The information read as follows
(personal growth is in brackets):
College is a time of life characterized by change, both mentally and
physically. These changes are particularly profound during freshmen
year. It is a time in which teens become young adults, learning to
provide for themselves by cooking and grocery shopping [learning who
they are and what they want to be]. Students often have to adjust to no
longer having parents to cook for them, making decisions about when
and what to eat [telling them what to do, making decisions about when
and what to study]. Students learn to manage time between classes and
other activities, such as working out [student organizations]. College
provides many opportunities to hang out with friends, exploring new
restaurants and relaxing while eating a pizza together [learning about
different cultures and relaxing while watching a movie together].
•In the second control group, participants did not read any information. They
proceeded immediately to the measures.
Measures
• All participants completed a manipulation check: “Please list at least 5 words
or phrases that first come to mind when you think of the typical college
freshman.” Next, they proceeded to the dependent measures.
• Participants completed three questions assessing planned dietary behaviors:
“What type of foods do you think you will eat in the next week?” (1 = low fat, 3
= some high & low fat, 5 = high fat); “How healthy do you think your eating
habits will be in the next week?” (1 = not at all healthy, 3 = somewhat healthy,
5 = very healthy); “How many servings of fruits and vegetables would you
ideally like to have each day?” (open-ended) (modified from SPAN, Hoelscher,
Day, Kelder, & Ward, 2003).
• Participants completed two questions assessing planned exercise behaviors:
“How many days will you exercise vigorously (increased heart rate) at least 30
minutes in the next week?” (0 days, 1-2 days, 3-4 days, 5-6 days, 7 days);
“How many days will you do strengthening or toning exercises, such as sit-ups
or weight lifting, in the next week?” (0 days, 1-2 days, 3-4 days, 5-6 days, 7
days) (modified from SPAN, Hoelscher et al., 2003).
• Participants then completed three measures assessing self-efficacy on a 5-
point scale (1 = not at all confident to 5 = very confident): “How confident are
you that you can create your own Physical Activity program?”, “How confident
are you that you choose healthy, nutritious foods for your diet?”, “How
confident are you that you can control your weight?” (modified based on Boyle
& LaRose, 2008)
• The survey ended with demographic questions, including age, year in school,
residence, gender, ethnicity, nationality, height, and weight.
Results
•Manipulation check: To examine whether the manipulation actively primed the
Freshman 15 stereotype, word/phrase listings were coded for the presence of
“Freshman 15” or “weight gain”. Overall, ten participants referred to the Freshman 15 or
weight gain (see Table 1). The experimental condition did not activate the freshman 15
stereotype any more than the other two conditions, χ2 = 3.60, p = .17.
Table 1. Frequency of References to Freshman 15 or Weight Gain by Condition
• Between-subject ANOVAs were calculated for the anticipated dietary behavior items,
anticipated exercise behavior items, and the composite self-efficacy measure (α =
.80). Gender (women: n = 28; men: n = 19) and residency (on-campus: n = 46; off-
campus: n = 16) were included as control variables.
• For anticipated dietary behaviors, there were no significant effects of condition on
type of food, F(2, 42) = .72, p = .49, healthy eating habits, F(2, 42) = .91, p = .41,
or servings of fruits and vegetables, F(2, 42) = .40, p =.67.
• There were no significant effects of condition on the anticipated exercise
behaviors: exercise vigorously for 30 minutes, F(2, 42) = .35, p = .71,
strengthening and toning exercises, F(2, 42) = 1.51, p = .23.
• There was no significant effect of condition on self-efficacy, F(2, 42) .63, p = .54.