Ohio State offers a variety of ways freshmen and upperclassmen can avoid gaining the "freshman 15" and help take off extra weight.
Jenn Peters, fitness coordinator for OSU Recreational Sports, said fitness classes and personal training are available to students who want to get in shape.
Recreational Sports offers fitness classes for $35 a quarter for students. Students can attend individual classes for $4 each, but Peters suggests purchasing a pass if students plan to attend on a regular basis or more than 10 times during the quarter.
Some of the offered classes include aerobics, kickboxing, cycling and yoga. All are held in the Recreational and Physical Activity Center.
Personal trainers can meet at any of the facilities, including the RPAC, the Adventure Recreational Center, or Jesse Owens North and South. Personal trainers cost $20 per hour.
Fighting the "freshman 15" does not end with classes and personal trainers.
The recently opened RPAC has more than 25,000 square feet of fitness space including cardio and weight equipment, four gyms, and 12 courts for basketball and volleyball. It also has a four-lane jogging track, five aerobic rooms, aquatic facilities and many other fitness opportunities.
OSU students pay a $42 recreational fee to use all the recreational facilities.
For students who need extra motivation, the School of Physical Activity and Educational Services offers classes focusing on a variety of activities ranging from Pilates to golf.
These classes are open to any full-time students and are usually one or two credit hours, Peters said.
Campus Dining Services offers nutrition education on its Web site to help students maintain a healthy diet.
The Web site also features a nutrition calculator where students can browse the dining services menus, add it to a cart and view the nutritional information of selected items.
"Everything completely changes for students when they get to college and, if unprepared, these new situations can lead to physical and emotional scenarios that ultimately can lead to undesired weight gain," said Karen Mill-Kovach, chief scientist for Weight Watchers, in a press release. "The 'freshman 15' does not need to be the defining point of the college career if you take the necessary strides to determine your personal food profile and adhere to a food regimen that's best suited to your new lifestyle."
Weight Watchers offers some tips to help students avoid the "freshmen 15," including taking advantage of physical activity programs, avoiding midnight cravings for pizza, chips and other unhealthy foods and eating "brain food," such as fruit, popcorn and pretzels.
Weight Watchers also suggests planning alternative behaviors because people often eat in response to boredom or stress. Suggested behaviors include walking, joining a student organization or volunteering.
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