Is Our Student Body Fit? A Comparison of Current Fitness Levels to Normative Data

Physical Activity (PA) among university students yields 40-50% participation and this statistic continues to make a steady decline. This has caused a widespread call to action for universities to provide resources and education to encourage students to increase physical activity. Prior to and during COVID-19 pandemic our student body reported decreased levels of PA. Amid the return to an in-person student life, many students have reported increased challenges in returning to fitness related activities. In tandem with our Exercise is Medicine-On Campus (EIM-OC) initiative, an interactive health fair open to the entire body of 4,495 students was held to address current physical fitness levels. PURPOSE: To examine physical fitness levels of students upon return to instruction practices for the 2021-2022 academic year. METHODS: Just 4% (N=220) of Barry’s students attended the health fair. Only 16% (N=37) completed some form of fitness testing, and only 10 (6 female, 4 male; age 24.3 ± 9.3) completed all 5 physical fitness assessments (i.e. muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body composition, cardiorespiratory endurance). Participants’ data were compared to normative data for their corresponding gender and age to assess current fitness level. RESULTS: Male and female participants overall excelled in cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance, while body composition, flexibility and muscle strength ranged from fair to average. Females exhibited normal or average classifications across 4 of the 5 areas of testing. Males exhibited good classifications for body fat % and flexibility, and an excellent classification for muscular strength. CONCLUSION: Sample’s overall fitness levels were considered average to above average, but the small sample size does not allow for valid inferences. However, even though it was not the purpose of this study, the data collected highlight an important co-existing issue between college exercise education programs and their efficiency in marketing to their audience. Students were offered an abundance of free giveaways and other incentives for this event, yet the yield was only 4% of the student body. Further research is needed to determine the most effective forms of garnering increased participation in on-campus exercise education programs

Exploring Physical Fitness Profile Of College Students Through Principal Component Analysis: A Case Study

Universities offer lifetime physical fitness (PF) courses and organize health fairs to keep their students physically fit. Despite these efforts, only 49.9% of US students meeting the National Guidelines for physical activity, reporting low fitness levels, as evaluated by the respective scores of the five fitness components. Fitness evaluation though is a time-consuming process and students’ time constrains have been postulated as reasons for lack of participation, motivation, and involvement. PURPOSE: Since time availability may influence students’ participation in a battery of fitness testing for evaluating their PF levels, this study aimed through principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the health-related PF components to the minimum required to assessed them in college students. METHODS: Students’ (N=36) PF of cardiovascular endurance (i.e. Queens College-VO2), musculoskeletal strength (i.e. handgrip-HG) and endurance (i.e. pushups-PU), flexibility (i.e. sit-and-reach-SR), and body composition (i.e bioelectrical impedance-BF) were assessed during a campus wide Health Fair. PCA was used to reduce the # of examined variables. Kaiser-Myer-Olkin (KMO) values and Bartlett’s Sphericity test with Eigenvalues \u3e1 were considered for the extraction of PCA. Varimax rotation and threshold of .7 in each PCA loading were used for correlation, differentiation, and interpretation between components. Parallel analysis was also used to verify the number of extracted components. Data analysis was performed by SPSS vs 28. RESULTS: From 36 students that participated in the fair, only 25% (6 Females, 3 Males) actually completed all fitness testing. For PC1, KMO was .61, pCONCLUSION:This study confirmed the importance of musculoskeletal strength and endurance, and cardiovascular endurance for PF evaluation. Even though the sample size used in the PCA was marginally acceptable, results indicated that when examining PF in college students, instead of testing all 5 of them, for brevity 3 PF components may be used as well

Physical Inactivity during COVID-19 Moderates Body Fat Percentage - Relative Handgrip Strength Relationship on Black Females.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) prevalence is high in Blacks. Physical inactivity is among the contributing factors of MetS development. Relative handgrip strength (HSR), divided by body mass index, is negatively linked to MetS. Increased body fat percentage (BF%) worsens HSR and contributes to MetS. Physical activity (PA) improves related-MetS risk factors. Only 45% of Blacks over 18 years and less than 40% of US females are meeting the ACSM PA guidelines. During COVID-19 PA levels have been decreasing, while stress has been increasing. Such a phenomenon may contribute to MetS due to a change in BF%-HSR dynamics. PURPOSE: To explore associations between BF% and HSR and to investigate the effect of being physically active during the pandemic on the BF%-HSR relationship. METHODS: Anthropometrics, HS (dynamometer), and BF% (bioelectrical analysis) measurements performed on nine black female college students (age 21.3±4.0 yr). PROCESSÓ v.3 by Hayes moderation analysis performed using SPSSÓ. BF% centered for product construction and heteroscedasticity consistent error. Moderation and conditioning significance set at p\u3c0.05. RESULTS: Model significantly predicted HSR (F3,5=503.1, p\u3c.001, R2=.73). BF% and PA significantly predicted HSR (b=-.1, t5=-5.0, p=.004 and b=-1.2, t5=-8.3, p=.0004 respectively). BF% x PA interaction significantly moderated HSR (F1,5=57.9, p=.0006, ΔR2=.2). Black females, who met the PA guidelines before but not during the pandemic, presented significant positive relationship between BF% and HSR (b=0.07, t5=38.1, p\u3c.001). CONCLUSION: Results support the negative clinical relationship of BF% and HSR for previously physically active Black females that kept exercising during the stressful pandemic period. For those who did not remain physically active during the pandemic, BF% and HSR relationship was adversely (positive) moderated by their choice. No causal inferences can be drawn due to the cross-sectional design and small sample size. However, based on Bjorntrop hypothesis, the combined effect of physical inactivity and additional stress during COVID-19 may have altered the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and increased cortisol levels that led to an increase in fat accumulation. Larger-scale studies are needed to examine the mechanistic explanation of this observation

COVID-19 Adherence to Physical Activity Guidelines Moderates the Mental Health/Toughness Relationship on Black/Hispanic Females

Physical activity (PA) improves mental health (MH). Mental toughness (MT) positively correlates to MH. Only 45% of Hispanics and Blacks over 18 years and less than 40% of US females meet the ACSM PA guidelines. PA has been decreasing during the COVID-19. PURPOSE: Investigate during the pandemic the effect of PA adherence on the MT-MH relationship on previously physically active, Black and Hispanic females. METHODS: Fifteen females (age 21.3±3.6 yr), six Hispanic and nine Black, who met the ACSM guidelines before the pandemic, completed the Mental Health Continuum and Mental Toughness Index inventories, while reporting their PA habits during the pandemic. Data analyzed with double moderation model-2 (MH=Y; MT=X). PA habits and race were the moderators. MT centered for product construction and heteroscedasticity consistent error. Moderation and conditioning significance set at pÓ, PROCESSÓ v.3 by Hayes. RESULTS: Model significantly predicted MH (F5,9=8.9,p=.003, R2=.7). MT significantly predicted MH (b=11.0, t9=3.3, p=.009). Significant MTxPA interaction (F1,9=19.0,p=.002, ΔR2=.3). PA, race, and MTxRace interaction did not predict MH. Hispanics and Blacks, who met the PA guidelines before but not during, presented significant positive relationship between MT and MH (b=2.9, t9=3.7, p=.005;b=3.5, t9=5.4, p=.0004, respectively), with Blacks to better predict MH. Hispanics, who met the PA guidelines both before and during the pandemic, presented non-significant negative relationship between MT and MH (b=-.3, t9=-.3, p=.8) having the worst prediction for MH. Blacks retained a positive non-significant relationship between MT and MH (b=.4, t9=.6, p=.6) with a weak MH prediction. CONCLUSION: Results infer a buffering (Black) and an antagonistic (Hispanic) moderating effect on the MT-MH relationship on previously physically-active females. This preliminary evidence suggests that adhering to PA guidelines during the pandemic would decrease the effect of MT on MH (less positive) in Black females and reverse the effect of MT on MH (becomes negative) in Hispanic females. Possible explanations include different response to the additional stress of PA due to cultural differences. Larger-scale studies are needed to examine the mechanistic explanation of this observation