The “freshman 15” is a phrase used to describe typical weight gain during one’s freshman year of college.

A committee of staff members has acknowledged freshman weight gain and is working to help students combat the extra pounds.

Jerry Barker, associate vice chancellor of student affairs and director of health services, founded HealthySTATE, an initiative to promote healthful eating and fitness on campus in fall 2005.

“I first got a few people together to discuss the idea and identify all the departments –mainly in student affairs and in other departments too — that would be interested in helping students maintain fitness and a healthy weight,” he said.

Susan Grant, director of University Housing, is the current chairperson of the HealthySTATE committee.

“[We are] focusing now on how unhealthy North Carolinians are — increasing obesity, type two diabetes, etc.,” Grant said. “[Barker] said to himself, ‘wouldn’t it be neat as a university to focus on health?’ so he got a group of people together and hence HealthySTATE was born.”

According to Barker, the committee comprises representatives from University Housing, University Dining, University Towers, health promotions, the medical clinic and recently added NCSU Transportation.

The program initially targeted the entire campus, but was later narrowed to the freshman class exclusively.

“We decided to focus on the freshman population,” Barker said. “It was just too big to focus on the whole student body.”

Grant said the objectives of this initiative are clear.

“Last January we met approximately once a month to help design a program that we could offer to first-year students with outreach education in three key areas – nutrition, stress and activity,” she said. From these areas, Grant said the committee coined a phrase to tie them together. “To that end we have tried to developed outreach programs that would address these things,” she said. “[They] have done a number of those things so far — ‘eat smart, move more’ is kind of our motto.”

According to Barker, HealthySTATE coordinated what is called the “know-your-numbers tour.”

Students can obtain their blood pressures, body mass indexs and blood glucose levels, among other data on campus.

The “know-your-numbers tour” included locations outside of Fountain Dining Hall, Carmichael Gymnasium, and the Free Expression Tunnel.

Ashley Bryan, a senior in biological sciences with a concentration in nutrition, is a peer educator and member of the HealthySTATE committee. Bryan aids in the “know-your-numbers tour,” emphasizing mainly BMI and waist measurements.

“I think the biggest thing I notice when students come through there is a lack of knowledge of what their numbers should be,” she said. “They don’t know why it’s important. We try to educate them so they know the importance of their BMI. We increase awareness in what we do.”

The next “know-your-numbers” event will be located at University Towers on Monday from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

“We are trying to help people get an idea — is their baseline relatively healthy? Or should they go to the health center and get a more detailed examination of health?” Barker said.

Barker said the next objective is to involve more students in the initiative.

“We really haven’t engaged students yet which would logically be a good next step,” he said.

Barker said the committee hopes to involve more students — both students who are willing to help and students in need of guidance.

“[We are] looking for peer educators and students who feel like they need some help,” he said. “We could point them in the right direction. We don’t have a program right now that involves a lot of students as a group — we have a lot of students individually.”

Barker said HealthySTATE is interested in the comparisons of statistics such as use of Carmichael gym and dining halls from 2005 to 2006.

In addition to gym and dining hall numbers, HealthySTATE would like to compare individual student BMI from the beginning of the school year with the conclusion of the spring semester, Barker said.