Wanna stay slim? Find yourselve an overweight roommate for college

Overweight roommates don't prevent the dreaded and infamous "freshman-15" pounds. Instead, one study finds their behaviors could keep you slimmer. Though not quite enough to fully cancel out that "Freshman 15," having an overweight roommate in college might keep you slimmer, a new study suggests. ...............



The research from this study showed that college women who bunked with roommates who weighed above average gained only a half pound during their freshman year when compared with the average 2.5 pounds gained by those with slimmer roommates.

Freshmen typically gain between 2.5 and 6 pounds (1.1 and 2.7 kg) — much less than the mythical 15, the researchers noted.

"This finding seems counter-intuitive, but there are some good explanations for why it may be happening," said researcher Kandice Kapinos, an assistant research scientist for the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.

However, behavior could explain the link since heavier roommates are more likely to diet and exercise than their average-weight counterparts. They are also more likely to use weight loss supplements and buy the types of college meal plans that limit access to food, Kapinos added.

"It's not really the weight of your roommate that's important, but the behaviors your roommate engages in," said Kapinos. "These behaviors are what may really be 'contagious.'" [See "Obesity Is Socially Contagious")

For this current study, which was presented this summer at the annual meeting for the American Society of Health Economists, the researchers assessed 144 female college students randomly assigned to bunk up together during their freshman year. At the beginning of the fall semester, the researchers measured the women's weights and heights, and asked about weight-management behavior. This included such things as whether they had tried to lose weight during the previous year, how regularly they exercised, and whether they had signed up for an unlimited college meal plan or opted for one of the less-expensive options.

Researchers plan to expand their study later this fall to include a larger sample of students at a public university to see if roommate weight patterns remain constant. They will also study other environmental influences and examine if the findings vary with race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.

"Our hope is that this line of research will have practical implications for university administrators and more generally for public health efforts aimed at reducing obesity," says Kapinos.