Objective: To determine the impact of the USDA MyPyramid food guidance system on college students' dietary and exercise stage of change related to healthy weight management. Design: Cross-sectional self-administered anonymous questionnaire of college students enrolled at a midwestern university before and after one lecture and one lab session on the MyPyramid food guidance system. To meet the study purposes, an immediate posttest (IPT) and a delayed posttest (DPT) were employed. Methods: A 16-item questionnaire was administered at three different times to all 152 students enrolled during a required core curriculum life sciences class for undergraduate students. Main outcome measures included change in stage for eight dietary and activity-related behaviors that influence healthy eating and physical activity using identical 1-itme algorithms with five distinct response items. All questions were shown to be both valid and reliable in a pilot study. Results: A total of 152 students completed the questionnaire, providing a 100% response rate. The percentage of college students classified as overweight or obese in this study was nearly twice (31.7%) that of the national Healthy Campus 2010 target goal (16%). Slightly more than one-half of students had attempted to lose weight (51.2%) or maintain weight (53.7%) in the past year with many utilizing unsafe or questionable practices. Following the intervention, there was positive movement in stage change for six of the eight dietary and activity-related behaviors examined with little or no relapse at DPT (p<.05). These include 1) increasing daily physical activity; 2) increasing planned exercise; 3) decreasing dietary fat activity; 4) increasing vegetable consumption; 5) increasing fruit consumption; and 6) decreasing portion size. Conclusions: Lately, the goal of obesity management has been refocused from weight loss to weight management. Weight management focuses on achieving the best possible weight in relationship to overall health. Young adulthood, especially during the college years can be a vulnerable time to develop or continue unhealthy weight management behaviors. Young adults have become obsessed with their weight, but all too often the focus is based solely on looks rather than health. The recently published MyPyramid is more focused on encouraging people to lead healthier lives rather than focusing on weight loss. This research supports the belief that utilization of the MyPyramid can influence young adults' stage of change in a positive direction for a variety of important dietary and activity-related behaviors that influence healthy weight management. Keyword(s): college level issues, nutrition, obesity issues