Strips of lamb, grilled eggplant and beer-battered fish greet CU summer students making their way down the lunch line on a hot July day.

A heap of golden french fries comes next, flanked by lines of freshly grilled cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches. Farther down, a salad bar brimming with greens, fresh fruits and deli-sandwich options awaits. There are lots of choices.

And no moms in sight.

"These kids are on their own. Nobody's watching over what they eat, and there's all this great-tasting food," said James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, explaining one factor behind the infamous "Freshman 15," the theory that first-year college students put on weight.

"I think they haven't learned to make good choices."

Many of the students packing right now for their first college experience are destined to gain some weight, although recent research has slimmed the average down a bit.

"It's more like 6 to 10 pounds, and it's usually over the first two years of college," Hill said. But the problem is, they aren't likely to take that weight off, he said.

A sense of urgency surrounding nutrition issues is growing in this country, where a weight-gain trend has continued for the past three decades, boosting chronic-disease rates. Last month, a study analyzing years of weight-gain data suggested that if the trend continues, 75 percent of U.S. adults will be overweight or obese by 2015. When announcing their findings, Johns Hopkins' researchers called it "a public health crisis."

Many experts blame America's common menu of fast food and processed meals. "Cooking is a lost art," said Karrie Bach, a registered dietitian with the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. Kids are being launched into adulthood with little nutritional knowledge. "And then we expect them to make good choices."

Best choices

• Vegetarian: grilled eggplant, pasta or whole-grain bread, steamed vegetables, salad with tofu and feta cheese, fresh fruit

• Non-vegetarian: grilled chicken sandwich or hamburger with no cheese, whole-wheat bread from sandwich bar, sandwiches loaded with lettuce and tomato

Worst choices

• Meals: sautéed mushrooms (too much oil/butter), beer-battered fish, brats/hot dogs, french fries, white bread (no whole grain/fiber)

• Sweets: giant chocolate chip cookies, brownies, soda

Did you know?

• Besides the fact that it's illegal to drink until age 21, a typical cocktail packs about 300 calories, and a darker beer can have as many as 200 calories.

• One 12-ounce soda a day for one year will add up to 15 pounds.

• A 150-pound person walking 3 mph across campus burns about 50 calories every 10 minutes. Walking up a flight of stairs nearly doubles the calories burned: about 92 calories in 10 minutes. Increase the pace, increase the calories burned.

• Fatigue can lead to overeating. "Lots of really recent evidence suggests that lack of sleep is contributing to weight gain. These kids are staying up late and have to get up early for class."

James Hill, Center for Human Nutrition

• Students are still building bones until age 25, so don't forget the calcium. Choose low-fat milk or soy milk, low-fat cottage cheese or 2 percent milk cheese.

• Skipping meals can lower metabolism and lead to overeating later. So eat breakfast, the meal most college students pass on.

• With 490 calories and 16 grams of fat, the Starbucks Venti (20 ounces) Caffè Mocha with whipped cream is nearly equal to a Quarter Pounder With Cheese.

Source: Center for Science in the Public Interest

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