As part of the ongoing Tufts Longitudinal Health Study (THLS), student participants were asked to engage in a series of tests throughout this week as part of the study's designated Assessment Days.
The study aims to demonstrate how students' health habits and lifestyles change or stay the same over the course of their college experience.
Participants in the study went to both Carmichael Dining Hall and the Mayer Campus Center to participate in hour-long sessions that measured a variety of variables relating to health and health habits.
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy Professor Christina Economos, the principal investigator of the study, said she and her researchers aim to use the study's findings "from a scientific perception" as well as "a programmatic sense."
Participants first received a Health Behavior Survey before arriving at Tufts which asked them to answer questions that pertained to such issues as personal feelings about weight, perceptions of mental health and exercise habits. Every April during their time spent at Tufts, they have the opportunity to participate in follow-up assessments and take additional surveys.
In addition to the survey, a series of assessments are administered to the participants. These included a step test designed to measure aerobic fitness and an electrical current procedure to measure body composition. Height and weight measurements as well as a grip test designed to measure overall muscle strength were also conducted.
Next week, TLHS participants will have the opportunity to have blood work done to measure their cholesterol, blood sugar and hematocrit and hemoglobin (iron) levels in their blood.
"There's nothing in the literature yet about this type of study," Economos said. "We hope to publish things that are important for clinicians to know, things they should be aware of."
Economos also said that the effects of programmatic changes in the study are combined with other factors such as increased knowledge of the standards of healthy living has had at Tufts. According to Economos, students now have a wider variety of fitness programs available to them, such as yoga classes.
"Not everyone just wants to go to the gym," Economos said.
The dining halls have also made improvements, including better salad bar options. These changes reflect the study's conclusions that student diets lacked adequate fiber and had too much saturated fat, Economos said.
Students also have the option to receive their individual results in June and will be able to see how their results compare to the normative data, or average expected data, for their gender and age groups.
Amanda Baryshyan, a freshman who participated in the study, said getting results is one reason why she decided to participate. "I wanted to see if the stuff about the 'Freshman 15' is true," she said.
With regard to why she participated in the survey, Baryshyan said, "I was bored when I got the survey in the mail, before school started, so I did it. It seemed interesting."
Economos said that since the study examines different kinds of variables, like the effects of gender, age, race and stress levels on health, she and her research team look at the results from different angles rather than try to culminate them in one summary.
For example, she said, "We recently published a paper about what actually causes weight change during freshman year. It's actually different for males and females."
The study, which began with the Class of 2002, also tracks the health habits of students after they graduate. Alumni annually receive a Health Behavior Survey that differs slightly from the one undergraduates complete as well as a health and medical history questionnaire administered to all students.
In addition to looking at a wide range of variables, Economos said that her team hopes to analyze the effects of lifestyle changes on health over time. Among the issues that she said she intends to explore is whether disordered eating in college - a condition, she said, that differs from an eating disorder - leads to infertility.
The existence of the TLHS depends on funding, an ongoing concern for Economos. She is currently looking for foundational funding and plans to apply for grant money from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
"Unless I can get support, it's not going to go on. It will be a real tragedy," Economos said.
