Associations between physical activity and health-related factors in a national sample of college students

To examine associations between meeting the current moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendation and health-related factors in a national sample of college students.

Participants (N = 67,861) completed the National College Health Assessment II during the Fall 2008/Spring 2009 academic year.

Hierarchical binary logistic regression was used to examine the contribution of 19 variables in explaining whether or not participants met the MVPA recommendation.

Meeting the MVPA recommendation was associated with several protective factors among college students, including adequate daily fruit and vegetable consumption, positive perception of general health, healthy body mass index, consistent seatbelt use, not smoking cigarettes, less perceived depression, and adequate sleep. In addition, meeting the MVPA recommendation was also significantly associated with a few risky behaviors including binge drinking, physical fighting, and multiple sexual partners.

College student PA interventions should consider also addressing fruit/vegetable consumption and binge drinking.