Lack of Exercise Among College Students Essay

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,

This general awareness resulted in about 17% of the U.S. population becoming more enthusiastically committed to fitness activities, with 63% recognizing the importance of fitness activities and 25% of whom actually attending health fitness clubs. Also, a recent survey showed that 37% of exercisers were motivated by the desire to control weight. Consciousness about body image and the desire to reduce stress and meet new people also had an impact on the health club phenomenon.

First of all, students do not have much knowledge about the different fitness components; they do not understand the relation between the fitness components and health. If students acquire the background knowledge about fitness, it could improve the class engagement and motivation, and increase the independent drive to exercise. Second barrier to students’ achievement is the lack of motivation to be active, and even more difficult, to specific fitness activities, such as sit-ups and push-ups. In today’s society, students spend more time sitting in front a screen and less time moving. Parent and school today have more responsibility making sure the children get enough physical activity. According to the New York Times (2016), “early school physical education (PE) programs can make a significant difference, and the earlier these routines are learned the more likely they will be carried forth into a healthy adulthood”. Another barrier that prevents students’ success is the loss of instructional time due to discipline problems. The classes are too big, with many diverse students with individual problems, which are difficult to address when these issues are from very different backgrounds. Finally, there is not enough support from home affecting not only physical education, but

Newton’s first law of motion states that an object in motion will remain in motion, while an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by another force. This seems to be true with humans as well because it is more likely that a person will remain active in their later years if they remain to be active through the critical time of their late teens and twenties. Because a major portion of this age category is in college, it is crucial for universities and community colleges to provide physical education to help students achieve and maintain a standard level of physical and mental fitness outside and inside the classroom.

One particular barrier that has been found to have an indirect effect on physical activity is self-efficacy and self-motivation. Self-efficacy allows humans to overcome barriers such as feeling tired to exercise; because of social norms, it is harder for females to have high self-efficacy and in turn, harder to overcome barriers to motivation (Louw, Van Biljon, & Mugandani, 2012).

“Being aware of the common exercise barriers among college-age students is critical to the understanding of the underlying reasons why some individuals are sedentary.” A college environment comes with its own unique challenges to maintaining a consistent exercise regime. There are multiple aspects of life that students are required to make time for, such as school, work, friends and family. The increasing pressure to excel academically can push students to neglect their physical fitness.

As a college student, my economic situation will change and I will need a job to support myself. This means however that I will have less free time to allocate to exercise so I will have to plan athletic activity into my schedule. My motivation may change because of my focus on college or my career. To stay motivated I can set short term fitness goals to encourage me to exercise daily. My accessibility to fitness resources will change when I go to college because I will no longer have access to my school gym and track and my local gym. I will have to find other places to exercise such as running at nearby parks and joining a new gym. My ability to participate will change because I will no longer be part of my school track team and will have to continue running on my

Exercise behavior is the study of theories which work to explain actions and phenomenon’s that occur when looking at peoples perspectives of exercise. One overall theory called The Transtheoretical model (TTM), includes elements from “across a variety of theories and models behavior, some of which are social-cognitive in nature and some of which are not” (79). The TTM describes five stages of behavior change: Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance. By using TTM as the base of multiple theories, a greater picture of exercise behavior is created to understand how individuals become interested and continue to make a life style that involves normal exercise.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2014), only 21% of Americans are sufficiently physically active according to the guidelines set forth in 2008. Thus, living a sedentary lifestyle has become an epidemic, and one that is not without consequence. The CDC (2014) further states that one’s risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, stroke, depression, some cancers, and early death is noticeably higher for those living a sedentary lifestyle. Certainly, then, promoting physical activity is a simple intervention providers should practice to prommote overall health and prevent or delay the onset of disease. A motivational interview was conducted with Cherish Brown, a 22-year-old

Julianne Tarullo, a journalist from the Huffington Post and press coordination of NBCUniversal Media, explains the nutritional challenges of a college student in her article “Nutrition in College: Answers From the Experts.” Weight gain, eating habits, fad diets, drinking, and weight management are some of the nutritional challenges that a college student may face. Tarullo’s article relates to a topic of why college years are a nutritional challenge, which is a topic discussed in chapter 7 of “Get Fit Stay Well.”

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.

When I came to college I never knew how difficult it would be to exercise on a regular basis. I was a high school athlete who had always found physical activity important and figured that would continue during my college career, but I was mistaken. I quickly became overwhelmed, and my time at the gym was quickly cut out of the schedule. I gained weight like most college students and looking back now I realized I had irregular eating habits, extreme levels of stress, and lack of sleep which is typical in most college students. When thinking of a personal self-care activity I found that exercise helped improve all of these problems in some way. When I realized exercise was the personal self-care

Another unfortunate hindrance to physical activity in schools is the notion that physical activity takes away from time that could be used for academic studies. This is unjustified however, because children of this age group are unable to sit and concentrate for long periods of time without being able to get up and move (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010).

The impact of stress among college students may have a negative impact on the student’s psychological health. Research indicates that depression rates in college students have been increasingly rising over the years. In 2012, a study was conducted by the National Survey of Counseling Centers which resulted in 91% of the researchers found an increase in students with psychological needs. To resolve college students’ stressors, Surgeon General and additional research studies propose that students who are more active exhibit a decrease in stress, anxiety, and depression. In order to improve and retain a healthy lifestyle, physical activity

There is nothing more important than health, especially in this day and age. It’s concerning that only 29 percent of high school students surveyed by the CDC (2011) had participated in at least 60 minutes of physical activity on all seven days before the survey. The CDC also noted that only 31 percent of these high school students attended physical education class daily. Only 8 percent of elementary schools, 6.4 percent of middle schools, and 5.8 percent of high schools provide daily physical education to all of its students (SHPPS, 2000). The government is missing the fact that physical education can actually improve test scores, not the opposite.