There was a time when college was a fun place to make mistakes of young adulthood. The Morning File author matriculated when the drinking age was 18, sexual freedom was without worries (or at least, none of dying), clothes reeked of cigarettes for days after attending a party, and intake of fatty, good-tasting, non-nutritious food seemed an essential part of the collegiate experience.

Ah, the good old days.

An example of the more rigid lifestyle facing today's collegians came this month from the University of Kentucky, which expanded a tobacco ban to include the outdoors of the entire campus. This wasn't just some little, Eastern, liberal, preppy school going on a health kick -- this was the major institution of a major tobacco-growing state. The university does a lot of tobacco research and has a building named after tobacco baron R.J. Reynolds, and it won't even let you chew tobacco anywhere on campus.

There were some protests over the policy, but it also won the endorsement of the student newspaper, which noted people were still able to smoke inside university buildings just a decade ago. The favorable Kentucky Kernel editorial drew the following comment, however, from one irate reader: "Well, so what's next? Obesity? Will the administration try to regulate fattening behaviors? Mandatory calisthenics for BMIs over 25?"

The person commenting above had better not be contemplating transfer to Lincoln University near Philadelphia. The historically black institution has launched a policy requiring students whose body mass index puts them in the obesity range to take a class called "Fitness for Life" before they can graduate.

Officials at Lincoln have noted the African-American population has a notable problem with the effects of obesity, such as high diabetes rates. So they want at-risk students to take a course that involves walking, aerobics, weight training, nutrition and additional health education.

"We know we're in the midst of an obesity epidemic," school official James L. DeBoy told the AP. "We have an obligation to address this head on, knowing full well there's going to be some fallout."

One student wrote in the school paper that even though she will voluntarily take the class, she "didn't come to Lincoln to be told that my weight is not in an acceptable range. I came here to get an education."

Of course, the unhealthy lifestyle associated with college is part of what can make people obese. It takes far too many games of Ultimate Frisbee to compensate for a life of sleeping, drinking, eating and sometimes maybe even occasional studying.

The term "Freshman 15" was long associated with the increased pounds college students can expect their first year, some of it no doubt helped by those all-you-can-eat cafeteria meal plans at most universities. Some recent studies have taken a bite out of that number, however.

For new students at the University of Guelph in Canada, the average weight gain was 5.29 pounds during the school year from a study reported in 2008, although only females were sampled. A study of Rutgers University students several years earlier found the average weight gain was 7 pounds from fall to spring for freshmen. Three-quarters of the students gained weight.

Of course, it could just be that these students' brains are all heavier from all of the new material they're taking in. We somehow doubt that's the key factor.

Something about all these health goals and restrictions seems to be sinking in for the college-age population, despite the group's history of sometimes lacking collective wisdom.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently publicized information that cigarette smoking among adults rose slightly last year for the first time in more than a decade. It wasn't due to the young adults, however.

Of the age groups the report broke down, only people 18-24 showed a decrease in regular smoking between 2007 and 2008, from 22.2 percent to 21.4 percent. The college-age population is now less likely to smoke than those ages 25-64, which wasn't always so.

The smoking reduction may just make college students all the more likely to gain that full Freshman 15, instead of one-third to one-half that amount. If the University of Kentucky finds that to be the case, and then figures out something to do about it, we'll be sure to update you.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.