Thanksgiving Eating: Is There Short Term Holiday Weight Gain?

For some Thanksgiving blogging I started out by typing the keywords “family” and “Thanksgiving” into Web of Science. Weirdly, I got a lot of articles in Korean, one on birth rates in the Old Order Amish, and one on whole body donation in Australia. Okaaay, new search term time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I crossed paths with nutrition research and ended up with a multitude of articles about weight gain. I mean, let’s face it, ‘tis the season for spending money and eating, which are not mutually exclusive.

A short paper published by Hull et al. in 2006 in the Nutrition Journal looked at weight changes over the Thanksgiving holiday in college students. If you are a researcher, college students are a convienient demographic to study. There are many of them, they are close, and you can incentivize them with free food. That being said, this age range (18-29) also has the fastest rising obesity rates, attributed to lower energy expenditure that result in gradual yearly weight gain. In the past, wrote about a study that addresses the myth of the Freshman 15, a study that also concludes that gradual weight gain is to blame. However, this is all annual time scales. The Hull study addresses more discrete periods of weight gain within the year. The holidays are one of those fat-inducing times of year, postulated to be the result of increased stress and caloric intake combined with decreased activity. Did I mention that I’m sitting on a couch, watching football, and blogging? Check that box, science.

The researchers recruited a bunch of college students to visit their “human body composition laboratory” prior to the Thanksgiving holiday break and asked them to return 5-7 days after the break. During each visit, demographics, body weight and measurements, and body mass index (BMI) were collected. They found a significant increase in body weight between the two visits, about 1.1 pounds (0.5 kg). This was true for the group as a whole but also when broken down by gender. However, when broken down by class standing, graduate students gained and undergrads did not. When categorized by BMI, those that were already overweight/obese (over 25 kg m-1) are the ones that increased in weight rather than those classified as normal BMI (less than 25 kg m-1). Additionally, in females, there was a correlation between baseline BMI and weight change. Oddly (at least to me), was their finding of decreases in waist circumference and waist/hip ratio – not something they really take the time to explain.

Frankly, the authors don't spend much time interpreting their own results, just listing a bunch of other studies without really relating it back to their own. But let's think about it. I mean, we’re only talking 1 pound here. Sure, that seems rather trivial, but remember to factor in time. This study followed people for a relatively short time period (5-17 days) and still saw significant change. Expand your timeline and you add evidence to the gradual weight gain argument. This study showed that this is a risky time of year, particularly for those groups already prone to overeating. The authors do conclude that their findings have important practical implications for effective intervention strategies, especially in those higher risk groups (although their use of “associated co-morbidities” seems a bit, well, morbid).

Soooo…..I think I’m going to go eat some turkey and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and cranberry sauce and….

 Happy Thanksgiving!


Hull HR, Hester CN, & Fields DA (2006). The effect of the holiday season on body weight and composition in college students. Nutrition & metabolism, 3 PMID: 17192197



(image via Tshirt Pusher)

Packing on the Pounds: Let the Holiday Eating Season Begin

Here in the U.S., yesterday was Thanksgiving. A time of family, thanks, and lots and lots of food. Be honest, how much did you eat yesterday? Me, I watched a lot of football while I ate appetizers followed by turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and cake. Then I entered a food coma for a few hours. It was glorious.

I typically approach a holiday with a journal article, but this time I am going to use the holiday as a jumping off point: Thanksgiving as the start of the holiday eating season. Work parties, family parties, gifts, shopping, etc. All we do for 6 weeks is eat eat eat. And we aren’t eating vegetables, people. A slightly older study from 2006 in Nutrition Journal takes a look at the effect that Thanksgiving has on holiday weight gain.

As with many university studies, this one utilizes their pool of willing college students for their evaluation. However, this isn’t just a story of easy subject access; college students have alarmingly high obesity rates. This demographic gains approximately 0.4-1.8 pounds (0.2-0.8 kg) per year. But is this a result of continual daily increases or more discrete periods of weight gain? That is what this paper aims to answer with this relatively straight-forward study.

The researchers evaluated 94 participants from the undergraduate and graduate programs at their university. These participants visited the human body composition laboratory one week prior to the Thanksgiving holiday break and then revisited again 5-7 days after the break. During these visits, the students were measured for body weight, height, and waist and hip circumferences. From these data, the participants’ body mass index (BMI) was also calculated and categorized as normal (less than 25kg) or overweight/obese (greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2).

They found a significant increase in body weight for the entire group, about 1 pound (0.5 kg). When they broke the group down by characteristics, they found that both males and females gained, and graduate students gained while undergrads did not. When they looked at “fat patterning” (such a lovely, descriptive term), they found a significant decline in waist circumference and waist/hip ratio for the group, males, females, and undergrads. No significant increase in BMI was found in those classified as normal, but those students classified as overweight/obese increased. After calculating correlations, they found the only significant correlation to be in a change in baseline BMI in females. So in general, everyone gains a little weight, but grad students and those already overweight are the most likely groups to pack on the pounds.

The authors discuss a few holiday eating pitfalls: longer eating durations, easy access to food, eating in the presence of others and increased portion sizes. All true. But what they spend zero time discussing is the differences they found between groups, simply stating that the Thanksgiving holiday is “a critical period for weight gain and obesity development.” Um, duh? I would posit that grad students use the holidays as a time to see friends and family and to relax and let loose. That, perhaps, they abandon their normal eat-at-my-desk strategy in favor of home cooked food and lots of wine (and/or beer). For those already classified as overweight, I would say that this demographic already has a problem with food, one that is only exacerbated during this time. For this group, the food challenges are that much harder to resist and all of those pitfalls are magnified.

What are your thoughts? And how do you cope with holiday eating?


Hull HR, Hester CN, & Fields DA (2006). The effect of the holiday season on body weight and composition in college students. Nutrition & metabolism, 3 PMID: 17192197



(image via The Bella Vita)