From the Guidelines
To prevent weight gain in young females, it is crucial to focus on healthful food-based patterns, emphasizing whole grains, fruits, nonstarchy vegetables, nuts, yogurt, fish, and whole-fat milk, while minimizing refined grains, starches, and sugar. Weight gain in young females is a significant concern, as it can lead to various health issues, including type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, and hypertension 1. The current obesity epidemic is a striking change from decades of prior relative stability, with abdominal adiposity increasing to a great extent than overall weight in many nations, especially in younger women 1.
Key factors contributing to weight gain in young females include:
- Poor diet quality, with a high intake of refined grains, starches, and sugar 1
- Low physical activity levels, with excessive TV watching and altered circadian rhythms 1
- Psychological factors, such as stress and emotional eating, which can influence weight and body image 1
- Hormonal changes, medical conditions, or medications that may contribute to unintentional weight gain 1
To promote healthy weight regulation, it is essential to:
- Choose foods based on their nutritional value rather than calorie content, focusing on whole, unprocessed foods 1
- Incorporate strength training and regular physical activity to build muscle mass and improve metabolic health 1
- Prioritize sleep duration and circadian alignment to regulate hunger and food preferences 1
- Address mental health and psychological factors that may influence weight and body image 1
By adopting these strategies, young females can reduce their risk of weight gain and related health issues, promoting a healthy and balanced lifestyle 1.
From the Research
Factors Contributing to Weight Gain in Young Females
- Life events such as pregnancy and motherhood, smoking cessation, marriage and cohabiting, attending university, and possibly bereavement can contribute to weight gain in young women 2
- Mediators that influence energy intake and physical activity levels, such as lack of knowledge and skills around food and nutrition, depression, anxiety, stress, satiety, neural responses, and possibly sleep patterns and premenstrual cravings, can also contribute to weight gain 2
- Socioeconomic status, genetics, personality traits, and eating styles can moderate weight gain in young women 2, 3
Interventions for Weight Gain Prevention
- Weight management interventions targeting young women are limited in number and quality, and their overall effectiveness cannot be established at this time 4
- Interventions that focus on individual-level intervention delivery and changes in weight-related knowledge and/or skills have shown promising results, but lack data from fully powered randomized trials 5
- Daily weighing with feedback, science courses, and exercise programs have been evaluated as weight gain prevention interventions, with some studies reporting significant differences in weight change in the intervention group compared with controls 4
Determinants of Weight Gain
- Contraception, dietary behaviors, quitting smoking, physical activity, and university transition are determinants of weight gain in young women 3
- The transition to and through university is a vulnerable time for weight gain in women, with the highest rates of weight gain observed during the first semester of attending university 3
Need for Further Research
- There is a need for high-quality randomized controlled trials evaluating interventions that are tailored to the unique needs of young women, and that can be disseminated broadly 4, 2, 5
- More research is required to identify at-risk females and engage them in weight gain prevention, and to address evidence gaps highlighted in current studies 2, 3, 5