Q&A: Why should colleges promote student physical activity?

Every fall in the United States, millions of young people move to college campuses, away from home for the first time. During this transition, they typically develop new social networks and routines as they learn to live on their own. One of the most important routines college students can intentionally develop is regular physical activity, according to Melissa Bopp, a professor of kinesiology at Penn State.

Most young adults get less physical activity than they did as high school students, and their activity levels drop even more when the weather turns cold, Bopp said. In recent years, college students in the U.S. have developed historically high rates of multiple health risks, with more than 30% of students—40% of men and 22% of women—experiencing high blood pressure and nearly a third experiencing depression or anxiety.

Bopp, who has conducted dozens of studies on promoting physical activity and health among college students, said colleges and universities can help students establish physical activity habits that lead to lifelong health. In a recent study, she found that participating in college courses involving physical activity was associated with lower perceived stress and fewer symptoms of depression among college students.

In this Q&A, Bopp discussed why college is a critical time for participating in physical activity, how colleges can get their students moving and why physical activity courses can help promote student health.

Q: Why is physical activity so important?

Many people think of physical activity in terms of success at sports or as a tool for weight control, but activity has enormous and well-documented social, physical and mental health benefits. Physical activity strengthens the heart and bones, improves mood, enhances mental sharpness, boosts immune system response and energy levels, reduces the risk of anxiety and depression, and improves sleep quality.

To be clear, everyone gets those benefits, not just young people, but some are particularly important for young adults. Generally speaking, college students have terrible sleep habits, so improving sleep really matters in this population. Also, anyone living in a dorm knows they will encounter every single germ, so the immune boost is important.

Finally, college students—especially in their first year—experience a lot of stress from a new living arrangement and increased academic expectations, so the mental health benefits can be critical to their well-being.

Q: What prevents people from remaining physically active after high school?

Young adults typically experience a lot of transitions as they move back and forth to college or switch households as they establish their working lives. When people make these transitions, they become less physically active on average.

In high school, physical education classes and sports practices are built into the daily schedule, but things change after graduation. In college, people have more autonomy, and a very small percentage participate in intercollegiate sports—much lower than the percentage that plays sports in high school. As other young adults enter the workforce, they often lose their connection to physical education and sports.

Young adults may face additional barriers based on their life experiences. Imagine a student from a rural area who has never been inside a commercial gym. When they arrive at college, the gym or other facilities with workout equipment might be intimidating. And some people just don’t know how to get started with an active lifestyle.

When you combine these factors with young adults developing a new social network that is probably not based around physical activity, there are many opportunities to fall off the fitness wagon.

Q: Are the physical activity needs of college students different from those of other young adults?

My research shows that college students tend to engage primarily in leisure physical activity—activity during one’s free time—and active transportation, like biking or walking. Young adults who are not college students may be less likely to engage in active transportation but more likely to be active at work—especially people in blue-collar jobs.

While leisure physical activity and physical activity at work may seem similar, they may have different effects. For example, we know there is a strong relationship between leisure-time physical activity and mental health, but the connection between mental health and physical activity at work is less clear.

When we examine the needs of college students and other young adults, the groups are different enough that it makes sense to think about their physical activity needs separately.

Colleges have very real opportunities to influence their students’ activity levels. For example, college courses that include physical activity have been shown to promote physical, mental and social health.

Q: What are the benefits of physical activity courses at college?

Once upon a time, virtually every college across the country made people take physical activity courses. These classes are valuable, especially for students who never got a good foundation in lifelong fitness or who maybe didn’t like physical education classes in high school.

Providing the opportunity to take these classes demonstrates that a college or university values exercise and the health benefits it can offer students.

Physical activity classes can help people change their behavior. Getting started doing anything is a significant hurdle, and these classes force people to show up and participate. Additionally, a well-designed class will help students learn to set fitness goals and structure an exercise routine. These are not skills that most people leave high school with.

Fitness classes also help people understand that they can successfully participate in physical activity. As you play racquetball, for example, or exercise in the weight room, you build your skills and feel more confident. My research shows that this faith in your own ability is one of the most important predictors of who will stay active.

Additionally, my lab has gathered preliminary data showing that students in physical activity classes felt connected to each other through shared experiences and were less lonely, though that study has not been published yet.

Perhaps most importantly, we saw better mental health trajectories for students who participated in physical activity classes. We want our students to become more than successful professionals: We want them to be successful as humans, and physical activity is a key component of that.

Who’s behind this story?

Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries.

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Andrew Zinin

Master’s in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X’s editorial success.

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