Understanding young adult physical activity, alcohol and tobacco use in community colleges and 4-year post-secondary institutions: A cross-sectional analysis of epidemiological surveillance data

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Edward Ehlinger¹  Katherine Lust¹  Mary Story²  Nicole A VanKim²  Melissa Nelson Laska² 

[1] Boynton Health Service, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA;Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA;

关键词: Physical Activity;    Binge Drinking;    Vigorous Physical Activity;    School Type;    Moderate Physical Activity;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-10-208

 received in 2009-12-09, accepted in 2010-04-26,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundYoung adults experience many adverse health behavior changes as they transition from adolescence into adulthood. A better understanding of the relationships between health promoting and risky health behaviors may aid in the development of health promotion interventions for various types of young adult post-secondary students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine associations between alcohol and tobacco use and physical activity among 2-year and 4-year college students.MethodsCross-sectional analyses were conducted using 2007 survey data, collected as part of an on-going post-secondary health surveillance system in Minnesota. Students were randomly selected to participant from 14 Minnesota colleges and universities (six 2-year community and/or technical colleges, eight 4-year post-secondary institutions). The 2007 surveillance data included 9,931 respondents.ResultsThe prevalence of demographic characteristics and health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, tobacco use) differed between young adults attending 2-year and 4-year post-secondary institutions; in general, those attending 2-year institutions are representative of more at-risk populations. Overall, higher levels of moderate, vigorous and strengthening physical activity were associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption and lower levels of smoking. In general, despite the disparities in the prevalence of these risk behaviors, the associations between the behaviors did not differ substantially between 2-year and 4-year post-secondary populations.ConclusionsThese findings illustrate links between leading risk behaviors. Interventions targeting multiple risk behaviors among young adults may warrant further consideration. Overall, future research is needed to support and inform young adult health promotion efforts that may be implemented in a wide array of post-secondary institutions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© VanKim et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.