Physical activity at a Hispanic-serving community college

Limited research has been published on racial/ethnic differences in PA at community colleges. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the PA profile at a Hispanic–serving community college and to explore the association between certain demographic characteristics and adherence to current PA recommendations. Demographic and PA data were collected at Pueblo Community College; a designated Hispanic-serving institution in southern Colorado. PA was determined using questions from the BRFSS for moderate and vigorous PA, classifying respondents into one of three categories: 1) meeting PA recommendation, 2) insufficiently active, or 3) inactive. Descriptive statistics were calculated for variables of interest. Polytomous logistic regression was utilized to examine the association of demographic variables with PA classification. Among the 463 respondents (Hispanic: n = 145; Caucasian: n = 318), the majority were between 25-50 years of age, female, and full-time. Approximately 30% of respondents were inactive (Hispanic: 26.8%; Caucasian: 32.7%), 28.1% were insufficiently active (Hispanic: 24.1%; Caucasian: 30.5%), and 41.4% were meeting PA recommendations (Hispanic: 49.1%; Caucasian: 36.8%). In addition to these observed ethnic differences, males were less likely to meet PA recommendations (OR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.34 – 0.82), whereas reporting full-time status inferred more than a 2-fold likelihood of meeting PA recommendations. (OR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.33 – 3.68). These data offer new insights into racial/ethnic PA differences in a unique population.