Abstract Obesity has been a struggle that Americans have been trying to fight over the years but according to study’s many Americans don’t exercise at all. Although exercise is encouraged to Americans the obesity rates continue to increase. College students are vulnerable to weight gain because of the environment and obstacles that surround them. A survey was conducted at the University of Texas at El Paso asking the students questions towards exercising. This literature review will inform the reader how exercise plays an important role in a student’s life benefiting them in a variety of ways.
Exercise among college students: A Review of Literature Many individuals become concerned about their weight and talk
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Lack of exercise affects all individuals in any type of discourse community. Therefore college students should be encouraged to get exercise being that the students are vulnerable to gaining weight through college. Nelson (2009) expresses how parents are the encouragers and they report that 52% of students do not get exercise. If parents can encourage students to study, make friends, and join sports then why don’t they encourage them to exercise? Many college students are not aware of the importance of exercising and the benefits it comes with. A survey was taken at the University of Texas at El Paso asking the college students how important exercising was to them. Figure 1 shows the results:
Out of 23 students 11 felt like exercising was extremely important. There was 2 students who believed exercise was slightly important which explains the numbers of Americans participating in physical activity going down. According to Desai (2008) “overweight and obesity are increasing nationally” (p. 1). In some cases lack of knowledge toward exercising can result in not getting the amount of exercise needed for the body and brain respond properly. Aballay (2013) informs the audience that the “National comparative studies found that the prevalence of obesity in the adult population is over 20% in 17 of 20 Latin American countries” (p. 2). The obesity rates are high in many countries; many have adjusted to this new lifestyle. According to Knopp (2010) the average weight
Being overweight, eating poorly, and not exercising are becoming an epidemic in America, especially among college students. Most of the research on it states the same things, however the first research article I found speaks more to the behavior and its current affects on college students’ health. A slew of doctors and Jesse S. Morrell wrote an article about “Risk Factors Among College Men and Women” in relationship to obesity. The opening of this article stated that “an estimated 300,000 deaths each year are attributable to obesity… and young adults have experienced dramatic increases in obesity rates,” (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). This statistic is what really got the research going and helped the researchers focus specifically on college-aged individuals. Upon diving into their research, the authors found more alarming statistics and related diseases. This included a recognizable relationship between obesity in young people and chronic disease risk, especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). In fact, CVD was the second leading cause of death in the US in that college-age group showing that our generation is at a greater risk for health problems than ever before due to our lack of exercise and healthy diets. Researchers then took to college campuses to examine students and their habits and provide risk assessments to promote healthier lifestyles and hopefully decrease the probability of CVD and DM through the metabolic syndrome system,
As a future educator of physical education, I feel that our nation’s weight problem is an issue that needs to be addressed. I feel that it is and will be my job to educate students about the importance of taking care of your body because “fat kids have a 92% chance of becoming fat adults” (www.amp.com). The leading cause of death in the United States, for men and women, is heart disease. “The United States alone the estimated annual number of deaths attributable to obesity is about 280,000.”
Summary: This article goes on to tell us what a problem obesity is becoming. It’s becoming such a problem that nowadays Overweight and obesity are the main risk factors for many non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, and some types of cancers. Statistics show, in both developed and developing countries, that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is growing. It used to be in just developed countries that obesity and overweight was a problem. But now, it’s a problem in both developed and developing
“I have just informed you of my 3 main points and now i will move into greater detail of my first point, what it means to be obese and overweight.” “Now that you know what it means to be obese and overweight, i will now move on to my second point, the health affects of being overweight and obese” “ After learning the health affects of being obese and overweight, i will now move on to my final topic; prevention of obesity and being overweight.” “Now that you have a better understanding of being obese and overweight, i want you to leave this class knowing a few points..” Body and Supporting Material: Main points, sub-points displaying facts from research: Meanings of obesity and being
The United States of America leads the world as the country with the highest obesity rate. Obesity is a life threatening condition and a prerequisite for many other conditions such as diabetes. Along with causing life threatening conditions obesity can cause day to day problems such as lack of energy and poor mental performance. Both of these day to day problems brought on by obesity and poor health in general affect many students in school and adults in the workplace, causing low productivity and low moral in both students and employees. It is important for healthy habits, such as a healthy diet regular exercise, to be encouraged and required by teachers and employers through out the U.S to ensure every student and employee is working at their personal maximum performance.
Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Two-thirds of adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese. The prevalence of obesity in the U.S. more than doubled from 15% to 34% among adults and more than tripled from 5% to 18% among children and adolescents from 1980 to now. (Brunilda Nazario). These facts should startle you and quite frankly shock and scare you! It is estimated by the year 2020 obesity will be the single biggest killer on the planet. (World Health Organization) Obesity has become a dangerous epidemic facing our country. As children, teen and adult obesity rates have risen dramatically, so has the number of diet, exercise and health programs. The question is which diets and exercise programs work, and which ones don’t. Educating our country about how to become healthier through different programs and lifestyles is an important step in fixing this serious problem.
According to report of survey of 2007-2008 by National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) by Ogden (2010) approximately 32.4 percent of adult population of US above 20 years of age have a basal metabolic interest (BMI) over 25 which indicate that they are overweight. About 33.8% of adults above 20 years of age are obese (BMI>30) and 5.7% are extremely obese (BMI > 40). These figures are alarming and obesity is of serious health concern. Americans are less physically active. The price of food in America has declined significantly due to changes in technology which have improved the effectiveness of food production and its distribution. Additionally, technology has reduced the requirement for physical activity during work or for movement. For most Americans, doing physical exercise requires a conscious dedication to exercise, which comes
The University of Arizona is one of the most committed to healthy lifestyle higher institutions in the United States. It is strongly dedicated to the provision of healthy environment to individuals who take part in university activities. However, obesity has been an issue here. A series of discussions conducted in focus groups with the university undergraduates allowed distinguishing obesity as the most pressing health concern among its students. At the same time, it has been proven that universities are appropriate settings to promote healthy lifestyles. Respectively, the University of Arizona has been viewed as having the potential of engaging students in weight loss programs.
“To enjoy the glow of good health, you must exercise”- Gene Tunney. In this society, which we live in, this population lacks health. According to the CIA’s list of obese countries in the world, America ranks 18. Our population is 35% obese, which is very big compared to the rest of the world. Today I see this fat world, and we can change it. The youth of America is our future. If you want a free fulfilled future it is important to build your fitness.
Weight gain is a serious problem among college students. Weight gain causes a lot of stress that can effect a person on how they live and how they view the values in life. With every choice they make, it can directly relate to how they are feeling, which is effected based on how they are feeling on their body figure. This is why diet plans or diet routines are very popular among college students because they will
In “An evaluation of a college exercise leader program: using exercise science students as advocates for behavior modification” the researchers are attempting to evaluate the behavior changes needed to begin and maintain a comprehensive exercise prescription program. The problem identified was a result of data found from an evidence based health risk assessment distributed throughout their target population. These results showed that students, faculty, and staff all had a “desire to be physically active, lose weight and use the colleges fitness, yet many were simply unaware of how to get started”(Armstrong et al, 2014). This health problem is consistently seen on campus across the nation as many students, faculty and staff enter the college atmosphere without the knowledge of how to maintain and engage themselves in an active lifestyle. The National College Health Assessment has reported that 34.1% of college students are classified as overweight and obese, 58% of them being female and 34% of them being male (Armstrong et al, 2014). These students have also
College life is a time full of fun, friends, activities, classes, and homework. All of these activities however, add up to a busy life style. Being busy is not in itself harmful but when the busyness becomes so great that it turns into stress, problems start to arise. The formation of stress leads to many unhealthy trends, such as lack of sleep, loss of immunity to disease, and a change in personality traits. How then can stress in the busy lives of college students be reduced? The answer is a simple one that has long been known; exercise relieves stress. Colleges across the country need to implement a program of required exercise classes to promote the well being of students.
“Redefining Fitness for Health and Fitness Professionals” and “College Eating and Fitness 101: A Guide for College Students” are two articles that discuss fitness and nutrition. Their topic matter may be the same, but the way they approach their discussion and the information they include are quite different. “Redefining Fitness for Health and Fitness Professionals” is a scholarly article that uses an eloquent tone, researched statistics, and a complicated format. “College Eating and Fitness 101: A Guide for College Students” is a popular article that uses a creative, easy-to-read
There are many personal self-care activities that are extremely important to our health. As a college student I chose an activity that I believe is one of the most important as well the most difficult for college students to do, exercising. I believe physical activity to be one of the most important personal self-care-activity a person can do to help improve their overall health. As a college student I have experienced what most college students or soon to be college students dread the most; “the freshman 15” which could easily be avoided with simply some exercise. Although many things lead to the freshman 15 such as irregular eating habits, stress, and lack of sleep I am going to discuss just how important exercise is as well as how it could help improve your overall health.
The main focus of this research is on freshman who are newly transitioning from highschool to college. The objective of this research is to measure possible reasons why students are gaining a substantial amount of weight while they are currently enrolled freshman year of college and how that weight gain can influence and increase the chance of diseases in their lives later on.