Holiday weight gain in university students (original) (raw)
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Effect of the Holiday Season on Weight Gain: A Narrative Review
Journal of obesity, 2017
Several studies suggest that the holiday season, starting from the last week of November to the first or second week of January, could be critical to gaining weight. This study aims to review the literature to determine the effects of the holidays on body weight. In studies of adults, a significant weight gain was consistently observed during this period (0.4 to 0.9 kg, p < 0.05). The only study in college students found an effect on body fat but not on weight (0.1 kg, p = 0.71). The only study found in children did not show an effect on BMI percentile (-0.4%, p > 0.05) during this period. Among individuals with obesity who attempt to lose weight, an increase in weight was observed (0.3 to 0.9 kg, significant in some but not in all studies), as well as increase in weight in motivated self-monitoring people (0.4 to 0.6%, p < 0.001). Programs focused on self-monitoring during the holidays (phone calls and daily mailing) appeared to prevent weight gain, but information is limi...
The effect of the Thanksgiving Holiday on weight gain
Nutrition Journal, 2006
Background: More people than ever are considered obese and the resulting health problems are evident. These facts highlight the need for identification of critical time periods for weight gain. Therefore the purpose was to assess potential changes that occur in body weight during the Thanksgiving holiday break in college students.
Changes in Adiposity and Dietary Intake during Nowruz Holiday in University Students
2019
Aims: This study aimed to assess possible alterations in adiposity and dietary intake during holiday periods in healthy subjects. Study Design: 452 students of medicine faculty of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences were Gholampour et al.; JPRI, 28(3): 1-9, 2019; Article no.JPRI.43726 2 participated in this study and announced via internet and campus announcement in Feb 2014. Methodology: Anthropometric parameters and body composition were measured using standard protocols. Individual nutritional intakes were assessed using the Dietplan6 software. SPSS software version 11.5 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 452 students who attended the pre-holiday visit, 433 returned for the post-holiday appointments. Of these participants, 82 (18.1%) were men. The mean age was 24.4 years for men and 23.8 years for women (p=0.171). All the adiposity and body composition variables significantly changed over the follow-up except for fat free mass (p=0.074) and truck fat free mass (p=0.935). Mean weight of participants increased from 63.5 kg to 63.9 kg at the end of holiday (absolute change 0.37 kg, p<0.001). Total energy intake increased by 16.4%, carbohydrate by 15.9% and total fat by 25.4%, and significant association were observed between changes in some dietary variables and change in adiposity during follow-up (15 days). Conclusion: In conclusion, holidays like Nowruz play a significant role in periodical weight gain and obesity in the college students of Mashhad University. Moreover we have found that dietary intake of carbohydrate and total fat increased through Nowruz holiday. Understanding times when people are more likely to gain weight including holidays is important for the development of prevention strategies.
An Evaluation of Holiday Weight Gain Among Elementary-aged Children
Journal of clinical medicine research, 2010
Previous studies suggest adults gain extra weight during the holiday season, however, few studies have been done with children during this time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate gains in growth among elementary children, and compare differences by gender and weight status. Childrens (n = 90) height and weight were measured before and after their holiday break. Height, weight and body mass index (BMI) and body mass index-percentiles (BMI-%) were evaluated and compared by groups using repeated measures ANCOVAs. On average, children grew 0.82 cm (0.32 in), and gained 0.56 kg (1.2 lbs) and 0.28 BMI units, however the average BMI-% slightly decreased by 0.4%. Overweight and obese children gained significantly more weight, BMI units and BMI-% units compared with normal weight children. This study supports that the holiday period may be an important time to target children, especially those who are already overweight and obese. Holiday weight gain; Childhood obesity.
International Journal of Morphology, 2016
Obesity is a major health problem worldwide. Obesity prevalence in Chilean older adults (OA) is increasing, associated with several negative health outcomes. Therefore, determining critical periods of adiposity increase is relevant in OA. The aim of the study was to assess body composition changes in OA during summer holidays. This observational study involved two test visits, without a control group. Twelve OA (9 females) with an average age of 71.92±6.97 years participated in an initial evaluation (E1) and final evaluation (E2) at the beginning and at the end of the summer in 2015. Weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were assessed; fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass (FM), and muscular mass (MM) data were collected through foot-to-foot bioimpedance analysis. No significant variations were reported in weight and BMI between E1 and E2. This prevalence was maintained between E1 and E2. The FM significantly increased between E1 (27.63±10.91) and E2 (28.64±11.39) (p= 0.007), while the FFM significantly decreased between E1 (45.38±5.89) and E2 (44.33±5.36) (P= 0.006), also the MM between E1 (43.08±5.62) and E2 (42.07±5.10). Both, weight and BMI are insufficient measures for detecting changes during this critical summer holiday period. However, the body composition measures identified significant changes in the OA during the study.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
Background: the present study aimed to investigate the effects of a single nutritional preventive session previous to a critical period linked to fat gain in university students with overweightness and obesity, emulating a nutritional session of a public health system. Methods: In this single-blind randomized controlled trial, 23 students met all the criteria to be included (20.91 ± 2.52-year-old; 52.2% women) who were divided into two groups: intervention group (IG) and control group (CG). Fat mass (FM) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), physical activity by accelerometry, feeding evaluation through three questionnaires, and a set of healthy lifestyle recommendations were evaluated before and after the national holidays (NH). Results: Our findings showed that FM increased significantly in the CG, but not in the IG (CG = 428.1 g; IG = 321.9 g; Δ = 106.2 g; p = 0.654 [95% CI = −379.57, 591.92]). However, no differences were found during the NH between them (Hedges’ g effect s...
The Relationship Between Feasting Periods and Weight Gain: a Systematic Scoping Review
Current Obesity Reports, 2020
Purpose of Review Whilst evidence indicates that weight gain occurs over holidays, the contribution of specific festive periods and celebrations to eating behaviour and weight gain is unclear. We aimed to synthesise literature on how festive periods and celebrations contribute to population weight gain and weight-related outcomes. Recent Findings Thirty-nine studies examining (i) body weight changes, (ii) determinants of eating behaviour or (iii) weight-gain prevention interventions during festive periods were systematically reviewed. Of the 23 observational studies examining changes in body weight during festive periods, 70% found significant increases (mean 0.7 kg). Only four studies investigated exposure to food cues and overeating during these periods, with heterogeneous results. All six intervention studies found that weight gain can be mitigated by self-weighing/self-monitoring and intermittent fasting. Summary Interventions targeting festive periods could have a significant impact on population weight gain. The scalability and sustainability of such interventions require further investigation, as do the broader socioecological factors driving unhealthy eating during festive periods.
Prevalence of body weight excess in undergraduate students: analysis of repeated surveys
Revista brasileira de epidemiologia = Brazilian journal of epidemiology
To compare the prevalence of excess of body weight between the surveys conducted in the years 2010, 2012 and 2014, in college students from the same institution. Three cross-sectional surveys were carried out in representative samples of students of a public institution. The excess of body weight was estimated by the body mass index and compared between the surveys, using the χ2 test for linear trend, in each of the categories: sociodemographic, link with the university and health-related behaviors. There were 1,069, 1,074 and 1,031 participants in the surveys in 2010, 2012 and 2014, respectively. Between surveys, the prevalence of overweight increased in men (2010: 30.1%; 2014: 36.4%), but not in women. There was an increased prevalence of excess body weight for the categories of sociodemographic variables link with the university and health-related behaviors in men and women. An increasing prevalence of excess body weight in college students was observed in the surveys. The conduc...
Overweightness and obesity prevalence among university students in 2015-2016 educational season
The main purpose of this study is to find out the obesity prevalence among university students. In addition to the main purpose, another aims of this study is to determine the individual features of participants related to obesity such as gender, age, being an obese in family and doing physical activity. This study was performed on university students from five different faculties of Çukurova University in 2015-2016 educational season. In this study, 894 volunteer students accepted for attending to the research. The mean age of female participants was 21.39±2.53 years. However, mean of males was 22.28±2.73 years. Descriptive study design and causal comparative methods were used. The individual information form created by the researcher was used to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants. BMI was analyzed both quantitative and categorical ways in this study. WHO's classification method was used for categorizing of BMI. All findings in the study were summarized by descriptive statistical methods such as mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, etc. The independent sample T test, the ANOVA test, Pearson correlation test and chi-square test were used. In all analyzes, significance level was accepted as p <0.05. The mean of the BMI was calculated as 22.40±3.49 kg/m 2. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean BMI of males (23.80±3.40 kg/m 2) and female participants (21,01±2,99 kg/m 2 , t(-13,043)=892, p<0.05). Also, it was found statically significant difference among BMI classification groups for gender (obesity rate of male: 4.9% ; female:1.1%) , x 2 (df=3, n=894)=101.21, p<0.05. These results have indicated that the rate of obesity among university students is lower than normal population in Turkey. At the same time the findings of this study have shown similar characteristics with the university students' of other countries reported by previous studies. In conclusion, it should be taken some measures for reducing overweightness and obesity such as increasing physical activity possibilities for people in all condition by local and central Governments, increasing the number of hours of physical education and sports lessons in schools as much as possible and the processing of these courses must be inspected strongly, more strict measures taken by the government to reduce obesity rates in society, informing and awareness of community on obesity, informing adequate and balanced nutrition by using the all media devices and facilities.
Eating habits associated with body weight gain in female university students
British Food Journal
British university students who were members of a slimming club. Method: Student members of a national commercial slimming programme 14 completed an online survey about cooking ability, weight gain, eating habits and 15 physical activity levels. Non-parametric statistical tests and regression analysis 16 were employed to examine factors associated with weight gain. 17 Results: The dataset comprised 272 current students. The majority of students 18 (67%) reported weight gain between 3.2 and 12.7 kg during university: 20.4% 19 reported to have gained >12.7 kg. Students commonly attributed their weight gain 20 to academic stress and nearly all identified with needing support to learn to cook 21 on a budget. Students reporting greatest weight gain had most frequent 22 consumption of ready meals & convenience foods, takeaway & fast foods, and 23 least frequent consumption of fruits & vegetables. Weight-stable students reported 24 lowest consumption of alcohol and were most able to cook complex meals. 25 Students who reported greatest weight gain reported lower physical activity levels. 26 There were inter-correlations between cooking ability and lifestyle factors. In a 27 multivariate model, low physical activity and frequent consumption of ready meals 28 and convenience food independently predicted weight gain. 29 Conclusion: Weight gain was inversely associated with diet quality, cooking 30 ability and physical activity with reliance on ready meals & convenience food and 31 low physical activity particularly important. Prospective studies are needed to 32 confirm these cross-sectional associations and to explore how the university 33 setting may contribute to the effect.