Ask the Expert: How Can I Teach My Daughter to Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain in College?

Benay Rubin, owner of SHE3 Well-Fitness Boutique in Fairfield, CT, spoke to us about ways for teens who are about to go to college avoid the freshman 15, including healthy eating habits and managing stress.

How can parents of older teens who are about to head off to college teach their kids to avoid behavior that leads to unhealthy weight gain?

It is really about time management and self-care. Part of that self-care is incorporating ways to release stress and finding time to take care of their bodies, like exercising and eating healthy, into their daily schedules. Whether their stress is caused by their workload or social situations, the most important thing is they find a vehicle to de-stress. That is also a really important thing for parents to do—be a role model to their teenagers, find ways to help themselves to de-stress whether by taking a barre fitness class, running, meditation, or some other outlet.

Meditation is one simple way that people can de-stress and not use food as a tool to fill an emotional void. Many adults, teens, and kids use snacks—or in college, the midnight pizza runs!—because they’re tired and stressed and they feel that the food will give them energy or that they can treat themselves to that food. It’s knowing what foods work for their own bodies and what foods don’t; what foods provide energy and are “brain foods” and what foods do the exact opposite. They should pay attention to how foods make them feel, and possibly take a food and nutrition class to learn how to make healthy and clean meals and snacks that they can make for themselves and share with their family.