Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors among College Students and Their Influence on Wellness

Literature estimates 3% of Americans lead healthy lifestyles including regular exercise and good nutrition. The prevalence of smoking, lack of exercise, and drinking, has increased with decreasing levels of social and emotional support. This study examines self-reported health behaviors (tobacco use, alcohol use, nutrition, exercise, emotional health, safety, and disease prevention) among college students and elucidates the association between health behaviors and self-reported overall health. We hypothesized that self-reported positive practice in one health behavior is associated with positive practice in at least one other behavior. An adaptation of The U.S. public health service wellness assessment was administered at the beginning of 4 semesters (2006-2008), to 276 undergraduate students enrolled in a general education health course in a large southeastern university and included two to five questions for each health behavior. Total scores for 7 health areas were categorized into 3 groups: 0 for very risky lifestyle, 1-5 for somewhat risky lifestyle, and 6-10 for healthy lifestyle. Results support that students who self-report healthy practices in one area also report healthier practices in at least one other area. Significant associations between self-reported healthy behaviors and healthy behaviors in multiple other areas included nutrition, emotional health, and disease prevention. Students reporting positive disease prevention practices also reported significantly healthier practices with alcohol usage, nutrition, emotional health, safety, emotional health and overall health status (p=<0.05) More research is needed to determine the exact contribution of each positive behavior to the overall construct of wellness.