An Assessment of University Students' Heart Health Behaviors

BACKGROUND: Heart disease is the leading cause of death among American adults. Behavior contributes to heart disease risk, and activities performed at a young age are often indicative of behavior that will be perpetuated into adulthood. Risk factors may begin in adolescence; therefore, prevention efforts are encouraged in young adults. Educating college aged students relative to behavioral risk factors and family history may be influential in helping young adults adopt more healthful behaviors.

METHODS: This pilot study utilized a convenient sample of university students (n=308). The students completed a questionnaire regarding knowledge and risk behaviors related to heart disease. Due to the nature and purpose of this study, only descriptive statistics were used.

RESULTS: Approximately 16.9% of students indicated they ate mostly high fat foods. A small percentage of students (24.0%) reported they engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity on average 3 days per week. A large percentage of students reported that their biological mother (73.6%) or biological father (61.4%) had heart problems. Eighty-three percent of students reported they had never smoked a cigarette. Abnormal blood pressure was self -reported by 7.8% of the sample and 40.6% of the sample had never had their cholesterol levels measured.

CONCLUSIONS: Health promotion efforts among the college population are important; students need to possess the ability to distinguish healthy behavior from unhealthy behavior in order to make positive behavioral changes. Early identification and modification of lifestyle behaviors that contribute to heart disease may help lessen the overall risk among the U.S. population.