Leila Yau, 18, checks the progress of her ironing-board-grilled ham, tomato, bacon and cheese sandwich as she prepares for dorm living at the University of Florida. (AP Photo/The St. Petersburg Times, Mike Pease)

Nobody to tell you what to eat — or when. The choice is all yours.

So is the potential to put on a fair bit of weight.

It's normal to put on some weight when you're of the age when colleges and universities say you're ready to begin studying at a higher level. But there have been several studies that suggest first-year students put on way too much weight.

It's been called "freshman 15." A study out of Cornell University in 2003 found that students put on 15 pounds – a little under seven kilograms – between the time they leave high school and the end of their first year of university.

The study found that first-year students put on roughly a third-of-a-pound a week — or just over 4 pounds — during the first three months at school. That may not sound like much, but it's 11 times the expected weight gain for the typical 17- or 18-year-old — and nearly 20 times the weight gain for the average adult.

Leaving home and going to school can mean a huge shift in priorities for young adults.

"There are many life changes for students entering first year around balancing questions like 'when am I going to fit in physical activity and sleep and what foods will I eat,' " said Janice Ellis-Claypool, York University's co-ordinator of health education and promotion.

Ellis-Claypool says the university actively encourages students to make healthy food choices: "We're working with our housing office to work with our food vendors to be 'eat smart' vendors."

Eat Smart program

Eat Smart is an Ontario program that recognizes restaurants and cafeterias for achieving excellence in providing healthy food choices and a healthy environment for their customers. In order to earn an Eat Smart label, a restaurant or school cafeteria must:

• Offer a variety of healthier food choices on the menu and by request, including vegetables and fruit, lower-fat options and substitutions.
• Have an excellent track record in food safety and a least one full-time certified safe food handler on staff.
• Provide a 100% smoke-free environment.

The university offers its approximately 60,000 students suggestions for "healthier alternatives" available at the on-campus fast-food restaurants, as well as tips on how to eat healthily on a residence meal plan. Those tips include:

• Avoid heavy breakfasts — eggs once or twice a week only. Skip the high fat meat and the fried hash browns. Choose oatmeal, 100% fruit juice, milk, yogurt, fresh fruit and high-fibre cereal.
• Look at all the options the cafeteria/restaurant provides before loading your tray. Make an informed decision based on your other meals during the day.
• Put all condiments and toppings on the side.
• Think of your plate as a clock: Fill the 12-6 portion with vegetables; put grains in the 6-9 portion and protein in the 9-12 area.
• Skip creamy soups and sauces; red sauce is always a better option.
• If you like to end your meal with dessert, choose fresh fruit, fig cookies or frozen yogurt.

At the University of Guelph, two professors conducted a study of their own and found that while students gained weight, it was not as dramatic as in the Cornell study.

'Different pressures'

Alison Duncan of the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, and Janis Randall Simpson of the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition studied more than 100 first-year women. They found the women gained about five pounds over the course of the year.

"There are a lot of different pressures and environmental factors that come into play [when a student moves into residence]," Duncan told CBC News Online. "Especially when they have lived at home and had their food choices made for them. Often students don't have time to be pre-occupied with what food choices to make."

Duncan's advice to students is to try to keep food intake in mind as well as the Canada Food Guide. Making time for exercise should also be a priority.

Among some of the other problems students in residence can face is relying on vending machines and their high-fat snacks, especially when pulling those all-nighters after suddenly realizing that a 10-page essay is due the next morning.

Duncan and Simpson are expanding their study to include 125 first-year men entering the university in Sept. 2006. Results of that study are expected in the summer of 2007.