A study conducted by nutrition specialists confirms that college students are more likely to consume fast food meals weekly than non college students. College students are experiencing weight gain and other negative health effects due to college meal plans. This is because of the proximity to fast food, financial accessibility to unlimited meal plans and dining dollars, and the lack of health consciousness in college lifestyles.

This study was conducted by a group doctors by the names of, Deirdre A. Dingman, DrPH ; Mark Schultz, PhD ; David L. Wyrick, PhD ; Daniel L. Bibeau, PhD ; Sat N. Gupta, PhD. The study shows that compared to adults, young adults consume the most past food in their diets. Some students consume at least one fast food meal a week and other consume all the way up to 8 fast food meals a week. Other students were found to be consuming more than 400 to 600 extra calories daily because they were not adjusting to the difference in intake with fast food meals. Also they were not adjusting to the amount of food they were eating in one serving. Fast food restaurants were found to be within a .5 mile radius of the school environment. Another factor playing a major role in this is the financial accessibility to fast food, college students find it much more affordable to eat fast food meals. College meal plans are also allowing students to have access to a prepaid card where they can use swipes to purchase fast food daily. This study took place on the campus of a large, south eastern public university, 24 percent of students living in on campus housing. This included 6 on campus fast food restaurants, 2 off campus fast food restaurants and 5 other on campus venues.

Overall this study done by a group doctors showed that college students are much more likely to consume fast food on a regular basis because of the affordability and accessibility to fast food restaurants near them. Bringing more attention to health consciousness and be more aware of healthy eating habits is something these doctors found is sometimes absent with college students. This may be due to the busy lifestyle and also the surplus of unhealthy options around them without any guidance on what choices to make. Findings suggested that frequent consumption of fast food meals may lead to overconsumption of calories, saturated fat, sugar, weight gain and obesity. This can be concluded as a major reason as to why college freshman are actually gaining the "freshman 15" when living in an on campus environment.