First Year Spread: Students are Susceptible to Significant Weight Gain in their First Year of Study
Students at Rhodes originate from a wide variety of homes with different lifestyles at their respective domiciles. It’s not easy for a many, if not any of them to adjust from their previously controlled, home or boarding school environments to the novel situation of university life. It is widely believed that new students gain a large amount of body mass in their first year of study, commonly known as “first year spread”. This view is especially held by second and third year students who claim to have experienced it for themselves, whether directly or indirectly. They often warn us to “...watch the way you eat because the spread will get you.”
I support the theory of first year spread, having observed, first hand the general eating habits of first year students, myself included. I have noticed many bumps and bulges that did not exist or were not apparent at the beginning of this year when every one was “fresh”.
What happens is that students arrive at Rhodes and all of a sudden have the liberty to do anything and every thing they wish; many acts which were considered “domestic treason in their original homes”. Free from the watchful and guiding eyes and hands of their parents and guardians, many students have completely revolutionised their lifestyles and particularly, in this case, their eating habits.
I have come across kids who are so amazed by their new found freedom, wielding shopping bags brimming with junk food; “...aagh, my mum would never let me eat between meals!” or “... we having chips and cake at movie night tonight, wanna come?” These eating patterns quickly turn into habits and students find themselves consuming kilograms of potato chips, litres of soda and trays of cookies in a matter of weeks. One look in the snacks isle in the local supermarket on a Friday night, reveals that the shelves are stripped of every ‘Simba” or ‘Lays’ foil-packet, leaving only one or two strays here and there.
Another factor is that a considerably large number of students tend to originate from low income homes where, they survived on one or two meals a day. They arrive at Rhodes and are greeted with a shockingly large amount of grub in the residence dining halls. I was once shocked by a boy leaving the dining hall with a whole loaf of Sasko white bread, the broad, victorious grin on his face was sufficient evidence that this loaf was to go down a single throat. I liken the dining hall to a watering hole where unsuspecting victims are snatched by the jaws of weight gain by predators like butter, French fries and southern fried chicken to name but a few. I sometimes imagine the mama at the counter saying “... would you like some eggs with your oil?”
High school is a very structured environment where the kids are forced to participate in physical activities in order to meet the required curriculum requirements. Rhodes however does not coerce or actively encourage any new students to join sporting activities or exercise programmes of any kind. Students prefer to laze about in the comfort of their rooms watching movies and series; “...the new season of gossip girl just came out; you won’t see me at net ball practice girlfriend.” Sport and exercise are seemingly activities reserved for students who are well informed about the importance of physical fitness, number of which is considerably minute.
In conclusion I support the theory of “first year spread” as it is evident that many of my colleagues myself included fall prey to the freedom.
Students at Rhodes originate from a wide variety of homes with different lifestyles at their respective domiciles. It’s not easy for a many, if not any of them to adjust from their previously controlled, home or boarding school environments to the novel situation of university life. It is widely believed that new students gain a large amount of body mass in their first year of study, commonly known as “first year spread”. This view is especially held by second and third year students who claim to have experienced it for themselves, whether directly or indirectly. They often warn us to “...watch the way you eat because the spread will get you.”
I support the theory of first year spread, having observed, first hand the general eating habits of first year students, myself included. I have noticed many bumps and bulges that did not exist or were not apparent at the beginning of this year when every one was “fresh”.
What happens is that students arrive at Rhodes and all of a sudden have the liberty to do anything and every thing they wish; many acts which were considered “domestic treason in their original homes”. Free from the watchful and guiding eyes and hands of their parents and guardians, many students have completely revolutionised their lifestyles and particularly, in this case, their eating habits.
I have come across kids who are so amazed by their new found freedom, wielding shopping bags brimming with junk food; “...aagh, my mum would never let me eat between meals!” or “... we having chips and cake at movie night tonight, wanna come?” These eating patterns quickly turn into habits and students find themselves consuming kilograms of potato chips, litres of soda and trays of cookies in a matter of weeks. One look in the snacks isle in the local supermarket on a Friday night, reveals that the shelves are stripped of every ‘Simba” or ‘Lays’ foil-packet, leaving only one or two strays here and there.
Another factor is that a considerably large number of students tend to originate from low income homes where, they survived on one or two meals a day. They arrive at Rhodes and are greeted with a shockingly large amount of grub in the residence dining halls. I was once shocked by a boy leaving the dining hall with a whole loaf of Sasko white bread, the broad, victorious grin on his face was sufficient evidence that this loaf was to go down a single throat. I liken the dining hall to a watering hole where unsuspecting victims are snatched by the jaws of weight gain by predators like butter, French fries and southern fried chicken to name but a few. I sometimes imagine the mama at the counter saying “... would you like some eggs with your oil?”
High school is a very structured environment where the kids are forced to participate in physical activities in order to meet the required curriculum requirements. Rhodes however does not coerce or actively encourage any new students to join sporting activities or exercise programmes of any kind. Students prefer to laze about in the comfort of their rooms watching movies and series; “...the new season of gossip girl just came out; you won’t see me at net ball practice girlfriend.” Sport and exercise are seemingly activities reserved for students who are well informed about the importance of physical fitness, number of which is considerably minute.
In conclusion I support the theory of “first year spread” as it is evident that many of my colleagues myself included fall prey to the freedom.
