This study was designed to examine the effects of cognitive information regarding fitness and nutrition on the self-concept of college students. 126 college students were administered the Tennessee Self-concept Scale; 52 were enrolled in a fitness and nutrition lecture class and the other 74 had never had such a class. The 15 highest and 15 lowest scorers in each group of subjects on the combined personal and physical subscale scores of the Tennessee Self-concept Scale were utilized for the analyses. A 2 × 2 (self-concept × group) analysis of variance showed a significant difference between the gain scores of the high and low self-concept individuals for both the physical and personal self-concept analyses, respectively, with the low self-concept subjects showing the largest improvement. No significant group or interaction effects were found for the physical and personal self-concept analyses of variance. Two independent t tests were used to examine differences between high and low self-concept individuals enrolled in the fitness and nutrition class, and the results supported the earlier findings using the analyses. These findings suggest that instruction regarding fitness and nutrition can influence the self-concepts of college students, particularly those with low self-esteem.
