By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

University of Maine students may be carrying too much weight, according to the results of a new survey released in Men’s Fitness magazine.

The magazine’s Web site and October issue rank the school 19th among the nation’s “Top 25 Fattest Colleges.”

Partnering with The Princeton Review, Men’s Fitness surveyed nearly 10,000 students at 660 colleges across the country before determining which schools were the “fittest” and “fattest.”

“And although the survey is a self-selecting opinion poll as opposed to a scientific study, we do believe the results to be a fair representation,” said Ben Zelevansky, director of data collection at the research organization. Schools with an insufficient level of response were not included in the final calculations, he said.

The University of Maine was the only Maine school to be ranked in the survey.

Zelevansky said students were contacted directly and asked to participate in the study. According to the Men’s Fitness Web site, they also were asked to pass surveys along to their friends.

Participants disclosed everything from their height and weight to the amount of exercise they get and how much time they spend playing video games or watching television. Each school’s physical fitness requirements also were taken into consideration.

Some UM officials had not heard of the Men’s Fitness rankings as of Tuesday, but interim Director of Campus Recreation Jeff Hunt had, and he was not surprised.

“It doesn’t seem totally accurate to me, but I’m not going to deny it,” he said. “I think it’s more a reflection of the state and this region in some ways.”

Obesity in Maine is a growing problem. According to an article published in the Maine Policy Review in 2004, “Obesity rates have risen 75 percent, from about one in 10 Mainers in 1990 to more than one in five in 2002.”

The article was written by Dr. Dora Anne Mills, the state’s chief medical officer and director of the Maine Bureau of Health, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Mills wrote, however, that “Maine has the highest rate of adult obesity in New England.”

UM Dean of Students Kenda Scheele said Wednesday she believes that “as a society, people are less active than they have been in the past.” She wasn’t sure she agreed with the Men’s Fitness survey, but said she could see the problem.

Scheele, Hunt and others at UM feel a new, 87,000-square-foot athletic facility to be completed in two years will be part of the answer to the campus’ possible obesity problem.

Hunt said the new building will quadruple the amount of space available for college athletes and those playing intramural sports or pursuing other recreational activities.

Patrick Guerette, 23, a graduate student in physical education at UM and an intramural recreation supervisor, agreed that there are likely some students at the school who face obesity problems.

But he said there are plenty of opportunities for people to get active. Everything from yoga to water aerobics classes are available, and he’s even going so far as to arrange a Dance Dance Revolution competition that may attract some fans of the popular music video game this semester. The game leads players through a series of increasingly more difficult dance moves.

Speaking for himself, he wasn’t too pleased with the Men’s Fitness survey.

“I’m personally pretty skinny, so I’m kind of offended,” Guerette said.

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