Level of Physical Activity at Lebanese Universities’ Students of Both Genders: A Comparative Study

Background: Examining students’ levels of physical activity is important because these students will be the future leaders of their communities. Objectives: The aim of this study was to generate primary information and describe the lifestyle behavior patterns considering physical activity prevalence among gender-related Lebanese college students. Methods: The study involved 600 students (346 Men, 254 Women with mean age 23.5 ± 3.96). The participants’ levels of physical activity was examined by utilizing the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The over-all level of physical activity including the four-lifestyle fields: work, transportation, home and gardening, and leisure-time, was presented as metabolic equivalent-min per week (MET-min/week). Results: Findings indicated 22% of students with high physical activity level, 61% and 17 % with moderate and low levels respectively. Based on activity Intensity, 47% (n= 282) of students were engaged in vigorous activity, while 45.2% (n= 271) were engaged in moderate activity, and 68.3% (n=410) were engaged in walking activities. Average time spent sitting for the whole sample was 6.23 daily hours. The level of weekly total physical activity expressed in metabolic equivalent represented 2970.5 MET/min/week in males and 2719.5 MET/min/week in females. Conclusion: In general, Lebanese universities students were equally active, with trivial supremacy for males. Lebanese university students met the (WHO) recommendations for physical activity (>150 min/week of moderate activity or > 75 min/week of vigorous activity or an equivalent combination of both activities). Physical Activity must be developed by the provision of physical activity classes in the university curriculum and extracurricular activities.

College Students’ Perceptions of Social Interactions in College Physical Activity Classes

Physical activity (PA) has been found to benefit a person in many ways. One benefit of being physically active is the social component. This deals with interacting with someone before, during, or after the activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of social interactions on college-aged students during their PA class. Participants for this study included 408 college-aged students (272 males, 136 females) who were surveyed regarding their interactions during their PA class. The survey contained Likert scale questions and open-ended questions, which required the students to respond with written answers. In short, these students thought that their interactions during their PA were important and that the interactions were enjoyable. These results, along with other results from this study, highlight the positive benefits that come from being involved in PA.

The Effect of Physical Activity on Spirometry and Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide in Adolescents—Longitudinal Study

Highly intense and chronic physical activity may cause an inflammatory process in the airways. The inflammatory process in the respiratory system can be measured either by the spirometry test and exhaled nitric oxide. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different levels of physical activity on fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and spirometry parameters. Fifty healthy students (volunteers) who were participating in physical activity classes (low level of physical activity) and attending sports training (high and medium level of physical activity) completed two indoor exercise training two to three weeks apart. FeNO was measured twice, at baseline and after 45–60 min of exercise followed by spirometry. There was no significant difference in FeNO values and spirometry parameters between the groups with different physical activity. However, students with the highest level of physical activity presented a higher and significant variance of FeNO levels in comparison to students with lower physical activity. Healthy young adults (professional sportspersons) have a higher internal variability of FeNO. That suggests the initial ongoing inflammatory process in the airways. Any level of physical activity does not affect spirometry parameters before and after training in young healthy adults.

Child health behaviour and parent priorities for a school-based healthy lifestyle programme

Objective: The purpose of this study was to characterise parents’ concerns for their children’s health behaviour and perceptions of motivators and barriers to positive child health behaviour change, and to determine associations between motivators and barriers and parents’ priorities for a school-based healthy lifestyle programme. Design: Cross-sectional study of 46 parents who had completed an un-validated survey distributed during school-wide events. Setting: School for children aged 5–14 years in The Bronx, New York City, USA. Methods: Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests compared motivators and barriers to positive child health behaviour change by heath behaviour concern; Spearman’s correlation assessed associations between motivators and barriers and programme priorities. Results: Parents concerned about child weight significantly ranked keeping up with others and decreasing clothing size as motivators, while parents concerned about child food choices significantly ranked improving food choices and decreasing body mass index (BMI) and clothing size as motivators. Food-, play-, and self-esteem-related motivators were associated with nutrition education ( rs ⩾ .41, p ⩽ .01), physical activity classes ( rs ⩾ .29, p ⩽ .04) and child involvement in programme decision-making ( rs ⩾ .43, p ⩽ .01) priorities. Consistency-, child resistance- and home rules-related barriers were associated with nutrition education ( rs ⩾ .37, p = .02), physical activity classes ( rs ⩾ .32, p = .02) and child involvement ( rs ⩾ .40, p ⩽ .02) priorities. Conclusions: Despite the study sample size, selection bias, and generalisability limitations, prioritising nutrition, physical activity and child involvement in programme decision-making may enhance parent support for school-based healthy lifestyle programmes.

Effects of College Student's Participation in Physical Activity Classes on Stress

The life of a college student could be considered stressful. There are assignments, term papers, midterm exams, and final exams, all of which may create varied amounts of stress. One method of combatting these stressors is participation in physical activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate college students’ perceptions of their participation in physical activity courses on their stress. A total of 356 college students were surveyed regarding their perceptions of how participation in physical activity affects their stress. Results showed that participation in physical activity classes helped them to control the stress related to their coursework.

Required and Non-Required College Physical Activity Classes Effect on College Students' Stress

A college education is considered important in society. The process of gaining a college education will be filled with many challenges. These challenges can be stressful. One method of combatting stress for college students is physical activity. For this study, students from a university that offered, but did not require physical activity classes for graduation, and students from a university that offered and required physical activity classes for graduation participated in this study. It was found that both groups weren’t “as stressed out” after their physical activity class. Overall, students from both universities generally felt that the physical activity classes were beneficial to them.