Purpose
Obesity, a complex condition with serious social and psychological dimensions affecting all ages, has reached epidemic proportions worldwide. Recent studies reported the increased problem of obesity and inactivity in college students.
Methods
This study examined the associations between physical activity, body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) and mental well-being among college students. Participants were 238 students (139 females, 99 males; 23.1 + 49.6 years of age) enrolled in physical activity classes from a comprehensive university located in Southern California. Participants completed five questionnaires including (a) demographic questions (b) the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ; Godin & Shephard, 1985), (c) the 7-item Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS-7, Scott, Burke, Joyner, & Brand, 2004), (d) 8 items for global esteem from the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ; Marsh, Richards, Johnson, Roche, & Tremayne, 1994), and (e) a 20-item version (10 items each for psychological distress; PD and psychological well-being; PWB) of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI; Heubeck & Neil, 2000). To examine the association of physical activity, BMI, and well-being, participants were categorized into three groups by BMI cut-offs (NIH, 1998); normal, 18.5–24.9 kg/m2, overweight, 25.0-29.9 kg/m2, and obese, 30.0–39.9 kg/m2. Due to small group sizes, obesity classes I, II and III (BMI 30.0 to BMI > 40.0) were re-categorized and merged into one group for analyses.
Analysis/Results
The mean BMI for all participants was 25.96 (range = 17.36 - 54.49). However, males (M = 27.6, SD = 5.8 kg/m2) showed statistically higher BMI scores than females (M = 24.8, SD = 5.4 kg/m2); t (234) = 3.82, p < .001. Correlation coefficients revealed that BMI was correlated negatively with global esteem (r= -0.14, p<.05) and positively with social physique anxiety (r = .30, p <.001). A robust MANOVA statistic utilizing Pillai's Trace (Tabachnick & Fidell, 1996) was used followed by the Box's Test results (p >.05). Significant main effects of gender revealed that males showed higher physical activity levels and lower scores on PWB and SPAS than females. The main effects of BMI showed a higher score on global esteem in the overweight group than in the normal and obese groups. The obese group showed higher PWB scores than normal/overweight groups. The normal weight group showed less social physique anxiety than the remaining groups. No significant interaction effects between gender and BMI were found.
Conclusions
These findings require further investigation to determine the practical significance of the associations between physical activity, BMI, and well-being.