Introduction:

Obesity and exercise play a major role in our body’s physiology. For my three articles I

focused on BMI, bodyweight, nutrition, and physical activity. Two research studies took two

different results of college students to compare each set in order to prove that exercise is

important to a person’s physiology and health. The last research study only used one qualitative

questionnaire regarding knowledge of physical activity. Each research study had participants’

volunteer and maintained ethical standards. The populations of all three research studies were of

college students that lived either on or off campus. I will now discuss the results into further

detail about how exercise and proper nutrition is vital to eliminating obesity and promoting

health.

1. Weight gain in freshman college students and perceived health

Everyone knows the mythical phrase “freshman fifteen” among incoming college

students. This article payed close attention to the unhealthy lifestyles and the change of certain

habits on students starting their first year in college from September to December. Faas, Groen,

Hanck, Neisingh, Prak, and Vos (2015) measured 1,095 student’s body weight and BMI values

in their study. All students were taught how to record each measurement and all were submitted

anonymously. At the end of their research study they used comprehensive statistical analysis on

the data to present the results. Faas et al. (2015) found that, “students had a mean weight gain of

1.1kg and an average BMI gain of 0.35” (p. 229). These results show that weight gain is

becoming an epidemic in college students due to their lack of nutritional eating habits and

exercise. The students focused their time on snacking throughout the day, skipping breakfast,
consuming alcohol, having no variety in their meals, and avoiding exercise (Faas et al., 2015).

This led to the study’s results of an increase in BMI and body weight. Faas et al. (2015) believes

that, “this however, may be a challenge, as students with an unhealthier lifestyle were less

willing to change their behaviors” (p. 234). Obesity is becoming a major problem for college

students due to their lack of health promotion and exercise.

2. BMI, physical inactivity, cigarette and alcohol consumption in female nursing students

This next research article also deals with BMI along with physical activity among nursing

college students. According to Klewer, Kugler, Lehmann and Lindeman (2014) they said, “for

health care professionals in particular, it is necessary to identify with a healthy lifestyle in order

to serve as a role model for patients” (para. 6). Health promotion has become an important

aspect in the medical world and nursing students need to be role models for their patients and to

simply benefit their own health. This research study used a 12 page questionnaire regarding each

student’s BMI and physical activity in 2008 and in 2013. The researchers questioned 266

nursing students in 2008 and then 259 nursing students in 2013 to compare the different results

while using the exact same questionnaire (Klewer et al., 2014). The research study and

questionnaire was approved by the school’s committee and was voluntary and anonymous for all

of the nursing students. Klewer et al. (2014) found that in 2008, 7.1% nursing students were

underweight, 72.9% were normal, 15.8% were overweight, and 3.0% were obese according to

the BMI scale. In 2013, 4.2% of nursing students were underweight, 64.1% were normal, 24.3%

were overweight, and 7.3% were obese according to the BMI scale (Klewer et al., 2014). The

results show a dramatic increase in BMI among nursing students in 2013 compared to 2008
showing more nursing students being overweight or obese. The other part of this research study

was to look at the physical activity among the nursing students. In 2008, 12.8% exercised less

than an hour a week, 36.1% exercised between one and two hours a week, 20.3% exercised

between two and four hours a week, and 30.5% exercised more than four hours a week (Klewer

et al., 2014). In 2013, 14.3% exercised less than an hour a week, 33.6% exercised between one

and two hours a week, 26.3% exercised between two and four hours a week, and 25.5%

exercised more than four hours a week (Klewer et al., 2014). There was a slight increase in

exercising between two to four hours a week and exercising for less than an hour a week from

2008 to 2013. On the other hand, there was a decrease from 2008 to 2013 in exercising for more

than four hours a week and between one to two hours a week. This evidence shows that more

nursing students are getting less physical activity and having higher BMI scores, which is

contributing to the obesity rate among college students. This is a major concern and college

students need to be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of intense

exercise per week (Klewer et al., 2014). The proper amount of exercise is key to preventing and

defeating high obesity rates.

3. Importance of Health-Related Fitness Knowledge to Increasing Physical Activity and Physical

Fitness

Obesity has become more prevalent in our country recently and it is due to the lack of

proper knowledge on how to correctly diet and exercise. College students are the main focus

because they get out of their comfort zone and routine which leads to unhealthy lifestyle

changes. Ferkel, Griffin, Judge, and Stodden (2014) explain this by saying, “self-efficacy was
found to be the strongest psychological predictor of PA [physical activity], and lack of time,

fatigue, weakness, bad weather, lack of facilities, and lack of exercise partners were found to be

negatively associated with levels of PA” (p. 221). Ferkel et al. (2014) further investigated the

behaviors and attitudes of exercise among 3,169 college students by sending out surveys to four

different colleges. They used a qualitative questionnaire that was voluntary and anonymous.

The researchers wanted to see if there was a correlation between the amounts of physical

education courses taken and the increased amounts of exercise in students. Ferkel et al. (2014)

found that, “students [had] a more positive outlook and motivation to improve PA” (p. 228).

Their research study indicated that the more knowledge a student had on the importance of

exercise the more willing that student would be to exercise appropriately and to take care of their

overall health. Ferkel et al. (2014) believe that the, “lack of PA continues to contribute to the

high prevalence of overweight and obese individuals” (p.229). Their evidence proves that there

is a need for knowledge about physical activity for people to properly exercise according to their

body type in order to prevent the many diseases associated with obesity. Health promotion has

become a major key in eliminating obesity and needs to be further taught and instructed to

college students in order to terminate this epidemic.

Conclusion:

Obesity has become a major health problem among college students, which can alter the

human physiology leading to a tremendous amount of diseases. These three research articles

have proven that exercise, nutrition, and proper knowledge are needed in order to end the sky

rocketing rates of obesity. Each research study maintained ethical standards and properly carried
out the results. The only critique about the data collection of each article would be that each

person submitted their information, which could end up being biased and slightly altering the

results. It was more feasible to have self-reported data. However, there is adequate knowledge

and information needed to direct a change in obesity rates.