Did you know that a study conducted in 2008, on undergraduate students, found that about 53% of sampled students reported having experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms and that 11% had considered suicide in the past four weeks (Downs 229)? Also revealed in this study was that 50% of students surveyed in 2009 reported binge drinking within the past couple of weeks. Such high percentiles are believed to be attributed to a lack of vigorous activity among college students. Andrew Downs, of the University of Portland and head author of the article “Vigorous Physical Activity, Sports Participation, and Athletic Identity: Implications for Mental and Physical Health in College Students,” assumes that inadequate activity puts college students at a higher risk for developing mental, as well as physical, illnesses. With this in mind, it is essential that we, college students, put a microscope on our lives and fish out any unhealthy activities, or laziness that may prohibit our overall well-being, and replace them with more aggressive pastimes.
College is considered to be a high stress, high pressure environment in which students strive to maintain decent grades, often at the expense of physical activity. However, the expensive of these activities may come at a high price. Research suggest that inadequate activity amid college students puts students at an elevated risk for anxiety disorders, depression, as well as chronic mental disorders, which has been noted to have an age onset just prior to college years (Downs 229). In addition, it is thought that lack of activity puts college students at a higher risk for obesity and that students often engage in risky behaviors, such as binge drinking, not wearing seat belts, poor dietary choices, and practicing unsafe sex (Downs 229).
According to Downs, upon entering the college scene, majority students become less engaged in strenuous activities and do not display the same athletic identity as they once did in high school, in effect leading to poor mental and physical health. In order to identify the validity of this statement, in 2008-2009, Downs lead a research experiment that included 395 undergraduate students, ranging in age from 17 to 38, and either attending a rural state University or an urban private University. The students were then surveyed with an anonymous Vigorous Physical Activity and Sports Participation Questionnaire (VPASPQ) which was used to obtain a standardized comparison of activity differentiating between high school and post high school years (Downs 233). Students were then classified as either active or inactive in accordance with the current standards of vigorous activity for adults. Independent test were later used to identify any significant differences in mental and physical health during these years.
All in all, Down’s hypotheses were supported by his results. In regards to physical health, as he believed, students who continued to practice active lifestyles, despite their college status, reported a drastically higher frequency of general well-being in comparison to students who reported being less active. Risky behaviors were not as prevalent in this group of students, attributed to their practice of healthy lifestyles which are thought to have permeated onto other aspects of their lives. Also, in terms of mental health, Down’s hypothesis was once again supported. His results displayed that students who engaged in physical activity reported higher rates of self-esteem, lower rates of anxiety, as well as less stress than their counterparts (Downs 241).
In essence, we as college students need to ensure our overall well-being by engaging in more demanding activities on campus. Being less active now can not only be detrimental to our health in this instance, but could also cross over into being future battles. In order to ensure our life-long prosperity it is necessary that we take the initiative to make sure that we fight that “freshman fifteen” and make healthy decisions to secure an abundance of health for our future.
Works Cited
Downs, Andrew, and Ashton Jennifer. "Vigorous Physical Activity, Sports Participation, and Athletic
Identity: Implications for Mental and Physical Health in College Students." Journal of Sport
Behavior 34.3 (2011): 228-49. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Sept. 2011.
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