Health behaviors and self-reported Quality of Life (QoL) among college students

In Spring 2006, 589 undergraduate students from a large southeastern university completed a health behavior survey. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the association between their health behaviors and self-reported Quality of Life (QoL). QoL was a single item measured on a scale from 0-10. Respondents were 59% female and 41% male. QoL between females and males was not significantly different (mean 8.29 vs. 8.27). Students who smoked reported significantly lower QoL than nonsmokers (mean 8.13 vs. 8.51; p<0.05). Students who perceived their body image to be ‘very overweight' reported significantly lower QoL than students who perceived that they had ‘the right weight' (mean 7.75 vs. 8.52; p<0.05). Heavier students reported significantly lower QoL. For example, students with BMI in the obese range reported significantly lower QoL than students with BMI in the recommended range (mean 7.83 vs. 8.41; p<0.05). Students who exercised more days a week reported significantly higher QoL. For example, students who exercised 6 days or more a week (mean=8.83) reported significantly higher QoL (p<0.05) than those who did not exercise at all (mean=8.05), those who exercised 1-2 days a week (mean=8.18) and those who exercised 3-5 days a week (mean=8.23). Students who did not experience any physical, verbal and/or emotional abuse in their lifetime, reported significantly higher QoL than those who experienced some abuse (mean 8.04 vs. 8.40; p<0.05). Students who considered attempting suicide in the past twelve months reported significantly lower QoL than those who did not (mean 7.64 vs. 8.30; p<0.05).