When students enter into college for their first years of study, they are declared “independent” because they are no longer under their parent(s) supervision. Due to this a lot of students begin to adapt to sedentary lifestyles, engage in poor eating habits, as well as show a decrease in activities overall. Weight gain in the first few years of college is becoming an important concern affecting the likelihood that more young adults are/or will become obese. Studies show that 50-60% of college students in the United States do not engage in enough physical activity to gain health benefits, and up to 20% do not exercise at all. Few studies have examined physical activity among Division II college students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine physical activity among Division II African American college students.
Method:
A convenient sample of college students from classes in the Department of Health and Human Performance at a small southeastern private historically black college and university was utilized in the study. Physical Activity was measured using a Modified version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire (Gruber, 2008). The responses on the questionnaire ranged from No, 1-2 times, 3-4 times, 5-6 times, and 7 or more times.
Analysis/Results:
Chi square analysis was utilized to determine the differences between the demographic categories and the physical activity questions, alpha = .05. Twenty students (11%) reported that they walked for exercise seven or more times. Twenty students (11%) reported that they jogged or ran seven or more times. Fifteen students (8.2%) reported swimming more than seven times for physical activity. Sixteen students (8.8%) participated in basketball seven or more times. Chi square analysis revealed that women walked more times for exercise as compared to men and that men played football and ran track to stay in shape compared to women. Seniors played more soccer to stay in shape in comparison to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.
Conclusions:
Results from this study are similar to others in that students participate in a variety of sports for physical activity. However, more studies are needed among historically black colleges and universities. Recommendations are made to further physical activity among African American college students.