http://www.medlt.com/EN/menu/obesity-treatment

As college students, we understand that weight gain freshman year is always something we are trying to control. We often wonder, how we can gain so much weight in such a short span of time. I personally was wondering this myself, how can we gain so much weight in a span on 6-8 months, and are there a lot of us who are overweight/obese in general? Weight gain happens when you take in more than you expend. How much weight a person gains also had a lot to do with the individual’s metabolism, (i.e. the process by which the bodies cells convert the calories from food into energy for bodily functions.

According to livescience.com, although this is true, metabolism differs from person to person. As a person, due to the wearing down of cells in the body, their metabolism tends to slow down. Therefore, if the person continues to eat the same number of calories they will gain weight because the calories or energy is not being used as quickly. Today this is a huge problem in the U.S. As of 2014, more than one-third or 78.6 million of U.S. adults are obese. This is out of control. There could also be third variables that cause one to gain weight. Whether it is their body makeup, allergies to certain foods, or addictions. Food is an addiction, whether we like it or not, it is an addiction. We cannot rule out third variables in this case because there is so many that could be affecting someone’s overall body weight.

Additionally, we now chose to focus on childhood obesity because as they grow older, it only gets worse. According to a meta-analysis on childhood obesity, data from the 2007-08 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey stated that 17% of U.S. children and adolescents (ages 2-19 years) were obese, and 30% of them were either overweight or obese. This is staggering. The meta-analysis was focused on a study of an intervention effect on the prominent issue of overweight and obesity. The p-value for the overall study was 0.05; meaning to study was definitely effective, and not just based on false information, or a randomized control trial. The analysis focused on four studies, and overall it showed a reduction in the favor of the intervention method. This meaning school-based, home-based, primary care-based, childcare-based, and community-based interventions were not favorable, meaning many thought it wasn’t effective, and in the end we found out the intervention method as a whole wasn’t effective.

This meta-analysis was important because it showed, this one method wasn’t effective, it wasn’t going to help anyone or change their diet, change the way they live, etc. It is also important, because it shows people not to trust this method, because it doesn’t work. As someone who is overweight or obese and trying to figure out the right way to lose weight, it is important to have access to information like this knowing it doesn’t work.

As a college student, none of us are obese, yet at least. However, we all have heard of the freshman fifteen. It is important for us to have access to information such as this meta-analysis when we are trying to understand approaches we can take to lose weight while at college, or maintain a certain body weight. Overall, information like this could be helpful, and it is eye opening to know how many children and adolescents are overweight and or obese.