Earn extra 4.5 kg along with college degree

While completing a four-year college degree, you are more likely to gain extra 10 pounds along with

increased risk of diabetes, hypertension, finds a study.

Researchers from the University of Vermont in the US published the story in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

"The myth of the 'freshman 15' has been widely debunked," said the study's lead author Lizzy Pope.

"But our study shows that there is concerning weight gain among college students that happens over all four years they are in

college," Pope added.

The team measured student weight and body-mass-index at the beginning and end of students' first and second semesters and again at the end

of their senior year.

The findings suggest that at the beginning of their college careers, the mean weight of the students in the study was about 147 pounds. By

the end of senior year, it had increased to about 157 pounds.

The extra weight translates to increased health risk, according to the study.

Obese young adults are at risk for a variety of health conditions, Pope said, including diabetes, hypertension, polycystic ovarian

syndrome and psycho-social distress.

The risk of becoming obese by age 30, a condition that carries a host of health concerns including a doubled mortality rate, is much greater

for obese adolescents than for those of normal weight.

While students gained roughly a third of the weight in their first year -- about three pounds on average - they also gained in other

years, an important finding for the design of behavior-related interventions meant to help them keep the pounds off.

"These findings suggests that health practitioners should not limit their programming to just to that first year," she said, "but extend

it over all four years of the college experience.