Research from George Mason University reveals how college students’ eating environments influence their food intake.
“Don’t sign up for eight AM classes. Learn to get along with your roommate. Remember to wash your bedding.”
New college students hear plenty of tips as they get ready for campus life, yet one warning remains especially common: watch out for the “freshman 15.” The phrase refers to the weight many students reportedly gain during their first year of college. But what makes this phenomenon so widespread that it has become part of the college experience itself?
A research team led by Y. Alicia Hong, a professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy who specializes in mobile and wearable technology, decided to find out. Their interdisciplinary study revealed that the college lifestyle naturally promotes behaviors that lead to higher food consumption and gradual weight gain.
“Social and environmental factors are key determinants of eating behavior. College students are affected by the eating environment, especially where they eat and whom they eat with. Our research found that they consume more calories when eating in groups or formal dining settings,” said Alicia Hong.
Tracking Habits With Technology
Over the course of four weeks, college students self-recorded daily eating behaviors, environment, mood, and stress levels using a mobile app. App-logged responses indicated participants eat more when in groups of two or more and in locations such as dining halls or restaurants. Conversely, food intake was less when alone or at home.
College students are unaware of their eating habits, findings suggest. Analysis revealed that students’ perceptions of their food consumption did not align with the caloric intake logged. Factors related to gender and emotion also contributed to the complex nature of dietary behavior.
“College students’ eating behaviors are complex, with individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors interacting to influence dietary intake. This research underscores the importance of context in dietary intervention and incorporating digital tools for dietary assessment,” said Hong.
Reference: “The dynamics of eating behaviors and eating environment in college students: discrepancies between app-tracked dietary intake and self-perceived food consumption” by Y. Alicia Hong, Jo-Vivian Yu, Hong Xue, Gang Zhou and Lawrence J. Cheskin, 30 October 2025, mHealth.
DOI: 10.21037/mhealth-24-102
The study was funded by the George Mason University College of Public Health Pilot Grant (PI: YAH).
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2 Comments
Freshly washed jeans fit tighter and remind you quickly if you are putting on weight. Freshmen should do laundry more often.
As an eighty-one year old lay American male battling externally imposed chronic illnesses since the US FDA approved the expanded use of added MSG as an ‘alleged’ “flavor enhancer” in 1980, I can state with great confidence that (with the possible exception of food gluttony) mostly undiagnosed food allergies aggravated with added MSG (not calories) are are the driving factor behind most obesity. More specifically, with the researchers finding that commercially prepared meals in dining halls, fast food places and restaurants with others provided the most calories, it should be noted that food allergies are to proteins and (to my experience, for some unhealthy apparently organizational commercial reason) those meals are typically protein and added MSG rich and nutritious vegetable poor. In the US the obesity epidemic presented by 1990 (CDC data). For more on my kind of food allergies, free online: https://soilandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/02/0201hyglibcat/020108.coca.pdf