Physical activity and lifestyle aspects of female students at a tertiary institution

[摘要] English: BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE:It is generally believed that a sharp rise in chronic diseases and unhealthy livinghas occurred. Researchers believe that the modern lifestyle and a lack inphysical activity (PA) are the main reasons for this problem (McGinnis,1992:S196).Chronic diseases and obesity are factors that can be prevented or reduced withphysical activity and a healthy way of living. The way in which physical activitycan have an indirect influence on conserving health can be explained in twoways: Firstly physical activity can be used as trigger mechanism to change otherdestructive lifestyle habits (Weinstein, 1987:8; Eddy & Beltz, 1989: 168).Secondly, participation in PA can have an indirect effect on the reduction ofcoronary diseases because of its reducing effect on depression, anxiety andtension, to name a few (Willis & Campbell, 1992:47).According to Bray and Born, (2004:181) there is an increasing need for physicalactivity among young adults. Young adults attending universities gain increasedcontrol over their lifestyles. However, they may not necessarily develop positivebehaviors like regular PA. The lifestyle that students live is questionable.Whether their activity levels are adequate and whether they generally lead tohealthy lifestyles is unknown as little research is available on this matter,especially in South Africa. Keating, Guan, Pinero and Bridges (2005:116) stated that it is well known thatstudents' PA as a research topic has been seriously neglected. Youngadulthood is considered to be an important phase of life, as many lifelong healthbehaviour patterns are established during this phase (Timperio, Salmon & Ball,2004:20).OBJECTIVES:The purpose of the study is twofold: 1. To identify PA levels of undergraduate female students indifferent ethnicgroups on a South African university campus, and2. To establish the lifestyle profile and body composition of female students indifferent ethnic groups in a South African university campus.RESEARCH METHODS:The sample constituted of female students at the University of the Free State intheir 1st, 2nd and 3rd year+ of study residing on the campus. The sampleconsisted of 244 students (78 1st years, 98 2nd years, 68 3rd years-: 139 black, 21coloured and 84 white students).The following three research instruments were used:�?International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) (2012)�?Belloc and Breslow's 7 lifestyle habits questionnaire�?The Heath and Carter anthropometrical assessment.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:By comparing the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year groups it is evident that 40.16% of thegroup as a whole (all ethnic groups) did take part in some form of physicalactivity. Fifty five point one percent (55.13%) of 1st year female students, 42.86%of the 2nd year and 44.12% of the 3rd year female students participated in PA.The White female students had the highest physical activity participation rate(67.86%), followed by the coloured students (38.10%). The black students'physical activity participation (35.97%) was the lowest.An average of 4 out of the 7 lifestyle habits being followed by the majority of theparticipants. The majority of participants eat breakfast daily (51.64%) but they donot eat 3 meals per day. Eighty seven present (87.70%) of the sample are nonsmokers,with 77.05% of the respondents consuming little to no alcohol, and atleast 66.80% of the group maintains a healthy body weight. Unfortunately theireating, sleeping and exercise habits are not optimal. It is evident that the lifestyle habits of the students decrease from the 1st to the s=year, but that by the time they progress to the 3rd year-, they start trying tochange their lifestyles habits to a certain extent. The ethnic groups do not show asignificant difference among their lifestyle habits but white female students dohave a more positive profile.

[发布机构] University of the Free State