The number of 4-year colleges and universities requiring a physical education course for graduation dropped from 97% in the 1920s to 40% in 2010 (Cardinal, Sorensen, & Cardinal, 2012). The purpose of this project was to assess the influence of participation in a required wellness course on the physical activity behaviors and attitudes of college students. The National Physical Activity Plan envisions that “all Americans will be physically active and they will live, work, and play in environments that facilitate regular physical activity” (2010).
Method:
Approximately 5000 students enrolled in the wellness course between 2008 and 2014 completed pre and post assessments using the Wellness Lifestyle Questionnaire (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2005) in electronic form.
Analysis/Results:
Descriptive statistics indicate that 83.6% of students were freshmen and sophomores and 16.4 % were juniors and seniors. Seventy-five percent of students indicated that participation in the wellness course influenced their commitment to regular aerobic activity; 91.7% indicated that they anticipate continuing an active lifestyle following the completion of this course. Seventy-five percent of all students were very satisfied/satisfied with the amount of over-all knowledge obtained during the course.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that participation in a wellness course had a positive impact on physical activity behaviors and attitudes of college students. Facilitating positive behavior change in physical activity behaviors and attitudes of college students may enhance the prospects of achieving the physical activity goals identified by Healthy People 2020 with the anticipated concomitant attenuation of morbidity and premature mortality that is currently associated with sedentary behaviors.