Health-Promoting Behaviors in College Students: Association with Self-Rated Health and Academic Performance

Objective: We examine the association between meeting the recommendations for 3 health-promoting behaviors (HPBs)--sufficient physical activity, adequate fruit and vegetable intake, and adequate sleep--and self-rated health as well as academic performance (GPA) in a cross-sectional study of US undergraduate college students. Methods: We used data from the fall 2008 American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment-II on undergraduate college students aged 18 to 24 years (n =21,261) from a sample of students at 40 US colleges and universities. HPBs were summed to form a combined score, and were tested using regression controlling for gender, ethnicity, BMI, smoking status, number of hours worked per week, year in school, public vs. private institution, and varsity athlete status. Data were collected in 2008 and analyzed in 2009. Results: Just 1% of the sample of college students concurrently engaged in all 3 HPBs; most engaged in zero (44.7%), one (41.7 %) or two (12.6%). Male students engaged in significantly more of each of the 3 single HPBs relative to female students. Combined HPB score was a positive significant predictor and explained additional variation in self-rated health (SRH) over socio-demographic covariates. Combined HPB score was also a significant positive predictor of GPA Conclusions: Adhering to the 3 HBP recommendations predicted both health status and academic performance in undergraduate college students. However, most college students are not meeting these recommendations and thus, may not be optimizing either their health status or academic achievement.