A preliminary investigation of college students' physical activity patterns.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the ambulatory physical activity patterns of college students. A descriptive study was conducted. Thirty-one subjects wore pedometers for seven days and recorded their total daily steps in a log. Results indicate that subjects were more active on weekdays than the weekend (t = 5.45, df = 31, p = .0001). Daily (t = 1.02, df = 29, p = .31), weekday (t = O.75, df = 29, p =.46), and weekend (t = 1.39, df = 29, p =. 17) ambulatory physical activity did not differ between genders. These findings are beneficial to practitioners planning physical activity interventions in a college population.

**********

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), and is also associated with increased risk for adult-onset diabetes, hypertension, colon cancer, osteoporosis, anxiety, and depression (Pate et al., 1995). Physical inactivity increases with age and the most rapid increase occurs in late adolescence and early adulthood (Stevens, Jacobs, & White, 1985). Many young adults on college campuses are not meeting current physical activity recommendations (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1995; Dinger, 1999)and substantial proportions are leading a sedentary lifestyle (Pinto & Marcus, 1995).

In order to design effective physical activity interventions, health promotion practitioners need to understand college students' patterns of physical activity participation and differences in activity by gender. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine college students' ambulatory physical activity patterns and gender differences in physical activity participation.

METHODS

Following approval by the Institutional Review Board, students were recruited to participate in the study. Fliers were posted at high traffic areas around campus, an advertisement was placed on the campus television station, and the primary researcher announced the research opportunity in several undergraduate classes. Individuals who were interested in participating were instructed to call the researchers and schedule an appointment. During their appointment subjects signed the written informed consent and completed a short demographic questionnaire. In addition, the primary researcher weighed each subject using a physician's beam scale and assessed each subjects' height using a wall-mounted stadiometer. Thirty-one college students participated in the study.

The 31 participants were 23.5 [+ or -] 3.19 years old and had an average BMI of 25.7 [+ or -] 4.29. The sample consisted of 13 (42%) females (age: 23.07 [+ or -] 3.3 years, BMI: 25.83 [+ or -] 5.09) and 18 (58%) males (age: 23.83 [+ or -] 3.16 years, BMI: 25.67 [+ or -] 3.77).

A descriptive study was conducted. Independent variables were day of the week and gender. The dependent variable was number of steps accumulated throughout the day.

Physical activity can be assessed using direct or indirect methods, Indirect methods are surrogate markers of physical activity and direct methods reflect actual movement and/or energy expenditure (Ainsworth, 2000). Pedometers can be used to directly measure ambulatory physical activity. Pedometers are relatively inexpensive and allow for objective and reliable measurement of ambulatory physical activity (Bassett, 2000). The Yamax Digiwalker (DW) Model 200 is the most accurate pedometer available (Bassett, 2000). The DW counts the number of steps an individual takes by vertically displacing a lever arm inside the unit that rotates a counting device (Ainsworth, 2000).

Subjects were instructed to wear the DW on their waist at the anterior mid-line of the right leg during all waking hours for seven consecutive days. In addition, they were told to record the number of steps from the DW onto their log-sheet before going to bed at night and to press the reset button so that the DW was ready to collect data the next day. At the end of seven days, subjects returned to the lab to hand-in their log-sheet and DW.

Descriptive statistics were calculated. Weekday and weekend differences in physical activity were examined using a dependent t-test. Independent t-tests were calculated to determine if ambulatory physical activity differed by gender.

RESULTS

Subjects averaged 9,932.27 [+ or -] 2,680.71 steps per day during the seven day period. Additionally, subjects were more active on weekdays than on the weekend (t = 5.45, df = 31, p = .0001). During the week (Monday through Friday) subjects accumulated 10,623.35 [+ or -] 2,791.25 steps per day. On the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) they decreased to 8,204.56 [+ or -] 3,166.86 steps per day.

Females were most active on Thursday (11,887 [+ or -] 4,760.7 steps) with a seven day average of 9,353 [+ or -] 2,031.5 steps. Males were most active on Friday (11,854 [+ or -] 3,984.8 steps) with a seven day average of 10,351 [+ or -] 3,053.9 steps (Figure 1). There were no significant differences in physical activity during the seven-day period by gender. Additionally, there were no differences between genders in weekday or weekend physical activity. These findings are illustrated in Table 1.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

DISCUSSION

The results of this study indicate that college students were more active on weekdays than on the weekend and that participation in ambulatory physical activity did nor differ between male and female students. Although patterns of physical activity have not previously been assessed in college students, researchers have determined that adult participation in physical activity fluctuates daily and that adults tend to be less active on weekends than during the week (Matthews et al., 2001; Tudor-Locke et al., 2001). Furthermore, previous studies have reported that male students are more active than female students (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1995; Dinger, 1999). However, these studies relied on indirect, self-reported measures of physical activity that required the students to accurately recall their participation in vigorous and moderate physical activity. Our findings suggest that male and female students do not differ in their daily total ambulatory physical activity.

The results of this study are important for health promotion practitioners for several reasons. First, our findings indicate that it may be more advantageous to plan physical activities on the weekdays so that participation and adherence rates are enhanced, programs are more successful, and student health can be improved. Some ideas for weekday physical activity interventions include campus walking tours, intramural sports participation, or educational interventions that focus on awareness of the benefits of regular physical activity. Although physical activity is higher on the weekdays, the weekends should not be overlooked. Participation in outdoor recreation, sports tournaments, and various fundraisers such as car washes and fun-run/walks are excellent ways to encourage students to increase their physical activity on the weekends.

Second, because physical activity differs from weekday to weekend, it is important for practitioners to collect activity data for an entire week. Collecting data in this manner is critical when examining physical activity as part of a needs assessment, conducting an impact evaluation of a physical activity program, or attempting to explain patterns of physical activity in the college student population.

Third, if male and female college students do not differ in ambulatory physical activity, then it may not be necessary to offer gender specific physical activity interventions. Unisex programming h rips integrate males and females, thus possibly reducing physical activity gender disparities that may exist based on. the students perceptions of gender roles. Furthermore, intervention costs we reduced by decreased planning time, eliminated need for duplicate equipment, and diminished staffing needs. Future studies examining the physical activity patterns of college students should utilize larger samples to examine daily ambulatory activity over longer periods of time to assess the efficacy of these findings.

Table 1. Total, Weekday, and Weekend Steps by Gender

                  Mean [+ or -] SD          t      df     p

Total
  Male        10,351 [+ or -] 3,053.9
  Female       9,353 [+ or -] 2,031.5      1.02    29    0.31
Weekday
  Male        10,944 [+ or -] 3,153.3
  Female      10,179 [+ or -] 2,241.2      0.75    29    0.46
Weekend
  Male         8,867.2 [+ or -] 3,305.5
  Female       7,287.1 [+ or -] 2,832.5    1.39    29    0.17

REFERENCES

Ainsworth, B. E. (2000). Practical assessment of physical activity. In K. Tritschler (FA.), Barrow & McGee's Practical Measurement and Assessment (5th ed., pp. 475-496). Baltimore: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Bassett, D. R. (2000). Validity and reliability issues in objective monitoring of physical activity. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 71(2), 30-36.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1997). Youth risk behavior surveillance: National College Health Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 1995. MMWR, 46(SS-6).

Dinger, M. K. (1999). Physical activity and dietary intake among college students. American Journal of Health Studies, 15(3), 139-148.

Matthews, C. E., Hebert, J. R., Freedson, P. S., Stanek III, E. S., Merriam, P. A., Ebbeling, C. B., & Ockene, I. S. (2001). Sources of variance in daily physical activity levels in the seasonal variation of blood cholesterol study. American Journal of Epidemiology 153(10), 987-995.

Pate, R. R., Pratt, M., Blair, S. N., Haskell, W. L., Macera, C. A., Bouchard, C., Buchner, D., Ettinger, W., Heath, G. W., King, A. C., Kriska, A., Leon, A. S., Marcus, B. H., Morris, J., Paffenbarger, R. S., Patrick, K., Pollack, M. L., Rippe, J. M., Sallis, J., & Wilmore, J. H. (1995). Physical activity and public health-A recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association, 273(5), 402-407.

Pinto, B. M., & Marcus, B. H. (1995). A stages of change approach to understanding college students' physical activity. Journal of American College Health, 44, 27-31.

Stevens, T., Jacobs, D. R., & White, C. C. (1985). A descriptive epidemiology of leisure-time physical activity. Public Health Reports, 100(2), 147-158.

Tudor-Locke, C., Ainsworth, B. E., Whirr, M. C., Thompson, R. W., Addy, C. L., & Jones, D. A. (2001). The relationship between pedometer-determined ambulatory activity and body composition variables. International Journal of Obesity 25,1571-1578.

HEALTH EDUCATION RESPONSIBILITY AND COMPETENCY ADDRESSED

Responsibility I--Assessing Individual and Community Needs for Health Education

Competency C--Infer needs for health education on the basis of obtained data.

Sub-competency 1--Analyze needs assessment data.

Timothy K. Behrens, M.Ed., CHES is a Doctoral Student in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. Mary K. Dinger, Ph.D., CHES is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. Address all correspondence to Timothy K. Behrens, M.Ed., CHES. Doctoral Student, Department of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Huston Huffman Center 108, Norman, OK 73019-6081, PHONE: [phone], FAX: [phone], E-MAIL: [e-mail]