The Impact of a Required Undergraduate Health and Wellness Course on Students’ Awareness and Knowledge of Physical Activity and Chronic Disease

As part of the undergraduate curriculum, the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) requires all students to take an undergraduate course in physical activity, health and wellness in their third year of study. This capstone course allows students to integrate concepts from their program regarding physical activity, fitness, and wellness. While students have anecdotally indicated that this course has improved their knowledge of health and wellness, this data had not been quantitatively assessed previously. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the course on students’ views of the impact of physical activity on disease and overall health and wellness. A survey was administered to the students enrolled in the course at the beginning and again at the end of the semester. The survey requested data in four categories; 1) the demographics of the student, 2) students’ knowledge of health agencies and guidelines, 3) students’ physical activity, health and wellness awareness and 4) students’ self-assessment of their knowledge of physical activity and chronic disease. The data showed that, at the end of the course, students felt that they improved in three areas; 1) their knowledge of health agencies and guidelines, 2) their awareness of physical activity and its impact on health and wellness and 3) their knowledge of physical activity and chronic disease. The results of this work provided information on the impact of a required health and wellness course on students’ knowledge of health and suggested that the material in the course helped their overall understanding of health.

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The Impact of Choice on Exercise Motivation and Physical Activity in College Students

Building Healthy Academic Communities Journal ◽

10.18061/bhac.v1i1.5559 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 6

Author(s):

Julia Fera Tracy ◽

Andrea Taliaferro ◽

Alfgeir Kristjansson

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Liberal Arts ◽

Health And Wellness ◽

Behavioral Regulation ◽

Exercise Motivation ◽

Liberal Arts University ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Wellness Course ◽

The Impact

Background: While research suggests that college courses contribute to significant health benefits, there is limited research on the effectiveness of these courses in increasing motivation and lifetime PA habits of college students.Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of choice in a conceptually-based college health and wellness course on exercise motivation and physical activity of undergraduate students.Method: Participants included undergraduate students (N = 81) enrolled in a health and wellness course at a four-year liberal arts university located in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Quantitative data from the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire and the Leisure Time in Exercise Questionnaire were collected over three time points from two groups (choice and non-choice). Qualitative data from semistructured interviews with course instructors (N = 4) and open-ended questions were also collected.Results: There was a significant increase in intrinsic regulation F(2, 158) = 10.13, p = .00, ηp2 =.114; identified regulation F(2, 158) = 7.35, p = .001, ηp2= .085; introjected regulation F(2, 158) = 6.61, p = .002, ηp2= .077; and PA F(2, 158) = 5.63, p = .004, ηp2 = .067 over time. No significant differences were found between groups.Conclusion: While there was no significant difference between instruction type, instructors and participants suggested that choice was the preferred method for adult learners.

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An Evaluation of the University of Illinois Extension Get Up & Move! Program

Journal of Youth Development ◽

10.5195/jyd.2009.280 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 126-131

Author(s):

Mary Ann Halpin ◽

Susan M. Farner ◽

Stephen J. Notaro ◽

Sheri Seibold ◽

Pat McGlaughlin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Childhood Obesity ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Healthy Lifestyles ◽

University Of Illinois ◽

Youth Leaders ◽

The University ◽

The Impact

Get Up & Move! is a program created by University of Illinois Extension to address childhood obesity. It provides ready-to-use materials for youth leaders to promote healthy lifestyles through physical fitness and healthy eating. The impact of the program on participants’ physical activity was evaluated to see whether involvement produces an increase in physical activity to the USDA recommended 60 minutes per day. It was found that a significant increase in minutes of physical activity occurred in participants from an average of 51.88 minutes per day to an average of 58.84 minutes per day.

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A Required College Wellness Course Changes Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behaviors Related to Physical Activity

International Journal of Physical Education Fitness and Sports ◽

10.26524/ijpefs19113 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 110-121

Author(s):

Anna Katherine Leal ◽

Edien Fernandini ◽

Brandon Jackson ◽

Madeleine Mason ◽

David Elmer

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Liberal Arts ◽

College Health ◽

Health And Wellness ◽

Attitudes And Behaviors ◽

Wellness Course ◽

Course Changes ◽

And Behaviors ◽

Cues To Action ◽

Recommended Guidelines

We examined effects of a required college health and wellness course on students’ physical activity (PA) attitudes and behaviors. A survey based on models of behavior change was emailed (September 2016 – May 2017) to all students at a liberal arts college. Of 408 students who responded, 217 had completed the course and 191 had not. Students who had taken the course reported more confidence in their ability to improve their physical fitness; found more encouragement from cues to action; and met recommended guidelines for weekly PA more than students who had not taken the course. Compared to males, females had less confidence in their ability to increase PA and improve fitness and overall health. Females perceived barriers to PA as more discouraging and cues to action as less encouraging. Data showed a required college health and wellness course altered students’ PA attitudes and behaviors.

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Impact of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on the Mental Health and Physical Activity of Pharmacy Students at the University of Zambia: A Cross-Sectional Study

10.1101/2021.01.11.21249547 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Steward Mudenda ◽

Moses Mukosha ◽

Chiluba Mwila ◽

Zikria Saleem ◽

Aubrey Chichoni Kalungia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Time Factors ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Pharmacy Students ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The University ◽

The Impact

AbstractBackgroundThe novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a serious global health problem that has negatively impacted the mental health of students.MethodsWe conducted an online descriptive cross-sectional study among 273 undergraduate pharmacy students at the University of Zambia. A partial proportional odds regression model was used to determine the predictors of anxiety. All statistical tests were set at 95% confidence level (p<0.05).ResultsA response rate of 70% was obtained with the majority of the students being female 51.6%. Of the 273 respondents, 23.8% did not experience anxiety, 34.4% experienced mild anxiety, 24.9% experienced moderate anxiety while 16.9% experienced severe anxiety about COVID-19. It was also found that 61.2% of students reported that their attention to mental health increased during the COVID-19 pandemic whereas 44.3% reported an increased resting time with a significant reduction in relaxation 51.3% and physical activity 45.4% time. Factors that affected mental health included; reduced family care (OR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.09-4.74), not changing attention to mental health (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.18-0.62), being in the final year of study (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.13-0.84), reduced time of resting (OR: 2.10; 95% CI: 1.26-3.50) and feeling helpless (OR: 0.42; 95% CI:0.23-0.75).ConclusionCOVID-19 negatively impacted the mental health and physical activity of pharmacy students at the University of Zambia. This can have negative health and academic outcomes for students going forward. Higher learning institutions and key stakeholders should implement measures to aid students to recover from the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health and physical activity.

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Strategies and Measurement Tools in Physical Activity Promotion Interventions in the University Setting: A Systematic Review

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17186526 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (18) ◽

pp. 6526

Author(s):

David García-Álvarez ◽

Raquel Faubel

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Systematic Review ◽

University Students ◽

Physical Activity Promotion ◽

Activity Data ◽

Physical Activity Data ◽

Activity Promotion ◽

The University ◽

The Impact ◽

University Setting

The university environment is especially suitable for implementing health promotion interventions and specifically for physical activity promotion among university students. The objective of this systematic review was to describe the strategies employed and the physical activity data collection tools that have been used in said interventions. A systematic search for articles was conducted using the PubMED, Cochrane, and PEDro databases. The articles selected were those describing a physical activity promotion intervention aimed at university students in their own university setting in which there was a control group. Eventually, 1074 articles were identified, of which 13 fulfilled the selection criteria. The results show eight strategies and nine different instruments for collecting physical activity data. The strategies identified were used in combination and they were adapted in each of the complex interventions. Validated questionnaires were the most widely used instrument. Future original studies are needed to find out the impact of these strategies in physical activity promotion among university students specifically in the university context.

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Literature in the World: A View from Cape Town

PMLA ◽

10.1632/pmla.2016.131.5.1544 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 131 (5) ◽

pp. 1544-1547

Author(s):

Meg Samuelson

Keyword(s):

Literary History ◽

Contemporary Literature ◽

Cape Town ◽

Undergraduate Curriculum ◽

Alma Mater ◽

Capstone Course ◽

The World ◽

English Major ◽

University Of Cape Town ◽

The University

Returning Recently to Teach at My Alma Mater, The University of Cape Town, I Was Amazed to Find That the Undergraduate curriculum to which I had been exposed at the dawn of the post-apartheid era remained substantially unaltered. With the exception of an experimentally convened introductory year that reverses chronology with interesting effects, the English major continues to plot a literary history across four inherited periods: Shakespeare and Co., Romance to Realism, Modernism, and Contemporary Literature, which collapses a previous bifurcation of the capstone course into Postmodernism or Postcolonialism.

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Associations between Chronotype, Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Sexual Opinion among University Students

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12061900 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 1900 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pedro Manuel Rodríguez-Muñoz ◽

Juan Manuel Carmona-Torres ◽

Cristina Rivera-Picón ◽

Fabio Fabbian ◽

Roberto Manfredini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Mediterranean Diet ◽

Breakfast Skipping ◽

Healthy Habits ◽

La Mancha ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Organisational Factors ◽

The University ◽

The Impact ◽

Lower Adherence

A person’s chronotype determines different habits, among which are eating and physical activity. Furthermore, at the university stage, social and organisational factors have a direct effect on students’ daily attitudes and habits. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is linked to better sleep quality and less social jet lag, but association with chronotype or sexual opinion remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the associations between chronotype, adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, and sexual opinion. A multicentre observational study enrolled 457 students, from the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the University of Cordoba. Sociodemographic data and adherence to the Mediterranean diet, chronotype, physical activity, and sexual opinion were collected with validated questionnaires. The study period was from December 2017 to January 2018. Our results reported that students with an evening chronotype (E-type), with evening preferences, had a lower adherence to the Mediterranean diet and showed a higher tendency towards erotophilia. E-type students reported a significantly lower intake of fruits, vegetables, pulses, cereals, and olive oil, and higher breakfast skipping. Therefore, among the measures to promote healthy habits (obesity prevention, sexual education, socialisation, etc.), chronotype and an analysis of the impact of the schedules established by the universities must be considered.

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INFLUENCE OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FACTORS ON THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ HEALTH

Wiadomości Lekarskie ◽

10.36740/wlek202008128 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 73 (8) ◽

pp. 1735-1746

Author(s):

Grygoriy P. Griban ◽

Zoia M. Dikhtiarenko ◽

Eduard A. Yeromenko ◽

Andrii M. Lytvynenko ◽

Alla A. Koval ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Healthy Lifestyle ◽

Well Being ◽

Educational Process ◽

Health State ◽

State University ◽

Self Assessment ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Many ◽

The University

The aim is to analyze the factors that affect the students’ health both positively and negatively and to evaluate the real health status of Ukrainian student youth. Materials and methods: The research was conducted at Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University and University of State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, 647 students of the 1st – 4th years of study were examined. To study both negative and positive factors, we conducted a survey of the students of different genders of several education departments, using original questionnaires. To analyze the results of the students’ self-assessment of their health state, the methodology of V. P. Voitenko, which contains 27 questions that characterize the most important aspects of well-being, mood, activity, sleep quality, pain senses and lifestyle of students, was applied. Results: It was determined that the most important factors for the preservation of health included nutrition, physical activity, active leisure, sleep, love and sex. 56.3 % of male students and 49.9 % of female ones indicated that motor activity is of great importance for health care. The students stated that the most dangerous health factors included drug use, radioactive contamination of the environment, smoking, alcohol abuse, stress, etc. It was found that the highest percentage of students had satisfactory and poor health levels – 44.8-54.9 % and 17.8-29.5 % respectively. Conclusions: A wide range of specific components of the educational process and the healthy lifestyle of students can have different effects on life. Lifestyle is one of the many factors that affect students’ health. The students’ self-assessment of their health state lets to manage the educational process of physical education efficiently, allocate physical activity and apply individual tasks rationally.

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Evaluation of the impact of a nurse-led program of patient self-assessment and self-management in axial spondyloarthritis: results of a prospective, multicentre, randomized, controlled trial (COMEDSPA)

Rheumatology ◽

10.1093/rheumatology/keaa480 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anna Molto ◽

Laure Gossec ◽

Serge Poiraudeau ◽

Pascal Claudepierre ◽

Martin Soubrier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Disease Activity ◽

Axial Spondyloarthritis ◽

Activity Score ◽

Self Management ◽

Control Group ◽

Self Assessment ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Significant Difference ◽

The Impact

Abstract Objective To evaluate the impact of a nurse-led program of self-management and self-assessment of disease activity in axial spondyloarthritis. Methods Prospective, randomized, controlled, open, 12-month trial (NCT02374749). Participants were consecutive axial spondyloarthritis patients (according to the rheumatologist) and nurses having participated in a 1-day training meeting. The program included self-management: educational video and specific video of graduated, home-based exercises for patients; and self-assessment: video presenting the rationale of tight monitoring of disease activity with composite scores (Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease activity Score, ASDAS/Bath Ankyslosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, BASDAI). The nurse trained patients to collect, calculate and report (monthly) ASDAS/BASDAI. Treatment allocation was by random allocation to this program or a comorbidities assessment (not presented here and considered here as the control group). Results A total of 502 patients (250 and 252 in the active and control groups, respectively) were enrolled (age: 46.7 (12.2) years, male gender: 62.7%, disease duration: 13.7 (11.0) years). After the one-year follow-up period, the adherence to the self-assessment program was considered good (i.e. 79% reported scores >6 times). Despite a lack of statistical significance in the primary outcome (e.g. coping) there was a statistically significant difference in favor of this program for the following variables: change in BASDAI, number and duration of the home exercises in the active group, and physical activity (international physical activity score, IPAQ). Conclusion This study suggests a short-term benefit of a nurse-led program on self-management and self-assessment for disease activity in a young axial spondyloarthritis population in terms of disease activity, exercises and physical activity.

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Evaluation of Dog Walking Programs to Promote Student Nurse Health

Building Healthy Academic Communities Journal ◽

10.18061/bhac.v3i1.6573 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 17

Author(s):

Morgan Yordy ◽

Emily Graff

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Nursing Faculty ◽

Student Nurses ◽

Student Nurse ◽

Health And Wellness ◽

Physically Active ◽

School Of Nursing ◽

Dog Walking ◽

Walking Programs ◽

The University

Aim: To provide a brief review of health concerns associated with a sedentary lifestyle and summarize some of the benefits of walking, with specific focus on the value of dog-walking programs as a means to improve health and wellness for the student nurse.Methods: A professor within the School of Nursing and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine collaborated to review research on the benefits of dog walking and interventions utilizing dogs to increase and sustain physical activity in their owners and those that enjoy the companionship a dog can provide.Results: Dog walking is an intervention to increase activity among student nurses due to companionship and the sense of obligation dogs provide. Research suggests that dog owners are more physically active with subsequent health benefits for both owners and dogs. Animal assisted therapy programs within the university setting can link students with dogs to improve physical activity.Conclusion: Dog walking has benefits to both people and dogs. Nursing faculty can develop physical activity programs within their institution that incorporate walking a dog to enhance physical activity among student nurses. Further research is needed to empirically evaluate effectiveness of dog walking in the student nurse population.

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