Female Freshmen 2008—Outwit First-Year Weight Gain

If you are a 2008 female first-year student, you will be able to participate in a new program targeting the dreaded average 15-pound weight gain experienced by many. Project PEER (Peer education, Exercising and Eating Right) will provide junior and senior student mentors in exercise and nutrition to help you stay healthy during your first year at the University of Illinois. PEER will examine whether going to college really causes weight gain in women and if healthy lifestyle choices can prevent the "Freshman 15." Students participating in the project will receive additional benefits including:

Project benefits

• Meeting new friends on campus
• Nutritional and Physical Activity Assessments
• Nutrition and exercise information specific to the University of Illinois campus
• Cash incentives for participation

Contact Lianne Anderson for more information.

Other Information about the Project

Ellen Evans, associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, will serve as project director for the three-year project. Others on the team include kinesiology professor Edward McAuley and assistant professor Robert Motl and Karen Chapman-Novakofski, professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Additionally, the role that situational self-confidence plays in outcome expectations and behaviors will be examined. Strategies that are successful for weight loss will be incorporated into a weight management general education course in the final year of the project. They will also be shared with academic and student affairs units to continue ongoing weight management educational efforts.