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As your son or daughter settles into the first year of university, you may be worried about greeting a heavier kid come winter break. All-you-can-eat dorm food, late-night snacking and binge drinking can boost a student's calorie intake considerably.

But the notion that students pack on 15 pounds - the freshman 15 - during their first year on campus may be more myth than reality.

According to a Canadian study published earlier this year, students entering university gain considerably less than the often cited 15 pounds (seven kilograms).

In the study, researchers followed 116 young women as they entered the University of Guelph in Ontario, asking them about their diet and monitoring their weight, body mass index, waist circumference and body fat from September, 2004, to March, 2005.

During the study, they gained on average 5.3 pounds. Excess calories were not to blame, as calorie consumption didn't increase during the course of the study. The results pointed to lack of exercise as the culprit.

The students who participated in less physical activity in college than in high school were more likely to gain weight. (Calorie intake may have been underestimated as the women were asked to recall their food consumption for weekdays only, and alcohol intake was not included.)

Although freshman weight gain is less than thought, it's nothing to be casual about. Research suggests that students aren't taking off the weight they accumulate during their first year.

In a 2006 study, researchers from Brown University's medical school in Rhode Island examined the weights of 907 students attending Indiana's Purdue University. Freshman weight gain was eight pounds for men and women, mostly in the first semester. By the end of their second year, students had not lost the excess weight. Instead, the gain during the first two years of university amounted to 9.5 pounds for men and 9.2 pounds for women.

There are many factors that make gaining a few extra pounds (or more) an easy task during the first year of university. For starters, dining halls give students carte blanche to select a variety of entrées and desserts, often served in hefty portions. And no one's around to stop them from having French fries at dinner or dessert with every meal.

Late-night eating - snacking on sugary or salty foods to fuel study sessions or grabbing a slice of pizza after a beer party - is another problem. Alcohol also adds calories and promotes extra munching. For some, food is a way to cope with the stress of being away from home, making new friends and adjusting to academic demands. Many first-year students also find they have less time to exercise because of heavy course loads.

First-year weight gain is not inevitable. The best way for students to combat the freshman 15 (or five) is to prevent it altogether.

Create an eating schedule

Get into a regular pattern of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner to help keep your blood sugar level stable, prevent hunger and curb cravings.

Choose healthy options

When eating at the dining hall or campus food court, assess your choices and decide what you will eat before you get in line. Lower-fat options include grilled or baked chicken or fish, veggie burgers, pita or wrap sandwiches, stir-fries with steamed rice, and pasta with tomato sauce.

Practise portion control

Just because the food is in front of you, and already paid for, doesn't mean you should eat it all. Make a trip to the salad bar before you hit the hot food station. If you have pasta, skip the bread. Ask for a double portion of vegetables instead of high-fat, buttery mashed potatoes or French fries.

Before you go back for seconds, gauge your hunger level. Eat until you feel comfortable, not stuffed.

Make special requests

If you're a vegetarian, request that protein foods such as soy beverages, legumes, veggie burgers and tofu be offered at meals. A steady fare of bagels, cheese pizza and meatless pasta will be low in protein and provide more carbohydrates than sedentary students need.

Snack wisely

Keep healthy snacks handy for a midday energy boost and late-night study sessions. Good choices include yogurt, fresh fruit, nuts, part-skim cheese strings, baby carrots and hummus, small cans of tuna, low-fat granola bars, snack-size low-fat microwave popcorn and instant bean soups. They help fill you up without adding excessive calories.

To prevent mindless eating while studying, put your snack in a bowl or on a plate. Don't eat from the bag.

Limit liquid calories

Beverages such as regular pop, fruit drinks and fruit juice can pile on the calories without filling you up. Quench your thirst with water at meals or one glass of milk or soy milk.

When socializing with friends, have a plan to limit alcohol calories. To minimize alcohol's appetite-enhancing effect, eat a meal or snack before you go out so you're not tempted to overeat.

Stay active

To burn calories and de-stress, aim for 30 to 60 minutes of moderate activity every day, be it walking, working out at the campus gym or playing intramural sports.

Get enough sleep

Late nights translate into increased hunger and excessive snacking. Recent studies have also linked getting adequate sleep - seven or eight hours a night - to maintaining a healthy weight. Lack of sleep has been shown to interfere with hormones that regulate appetite and fat storage.

Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based dietitian at the Medcan Clinic, is on CTV's Canada AM every Wednesday. Her website is lesliebeck.com.