The other side of education: Weight gain linked to college degree

New York: Completing goals is a feeling of great joy and happiness. But the sheer jubilation of accomplishing a task also comes with a price as it may bring some unwanted results on your body, as per a new study.

It says that completing a four-year degree course means you're likely to add more than 4.5 kgs to your body weight, along with the associated health risks.

"Our study shows that there is concerning weight gain among college students that happens over all four years they are in college," said the study's lead author Lizzy Pope, Assistant Professor at University of Vermont in the US.

The study measured student weight and body-mass-index at the beginning and end of students' first and second semesters and again at the end of their senior year.

At the beginning of their college careers, the mean weight of the students in the study was about 147 pounds (66.6 kgs). The study found that by the end of senior year, it had increased to about 157 pounds (71 kgs).

The extra weight translates to increased health risk.

Twenty-three percent of the students in the study were overweight or obese as they were starting college.

By the end of senior year, 41 percent were in that category, a 78 percent increase, the study said.

The study has been published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

Obese young adults are at risk for a variety of health conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, polycystic ovarian syndrome and pscho-social distress, Pope said.

"This study and earlier ones suggest that college students are prone to weight gain that can impact their health in the present and even more significantly in the future," Pope pointed out. 

(With IANS inputs)