Relationship between stress and healthy lifestyle factors of college students
Date
2019-01-01
Authors
Badger, Jordan
Quatromoni, Paula A.
Morrell, Jesse Stabile
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
Jordan Badger, Paula A Quatromoni, Jesse Stabile Morrell. 2019. "Relationship between Stress and Healthy Lifestyle Factors of College Students." Health Behavior and Policy Review, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 43 - 55. https://doi.org/10.14485/hbpr.6.1.4
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We assessed the correlation between college students' perceived stress (PS) and healthy lifestyle factors (HLFs) in this cross-sectional study. METHODS: Data were collected from 1396 undergraduates enrolled in an introductory nutrition course. We measured PS and 5 HLFs (physically active, healthy diet, non-smoker, non-binge drinker, healthy BMI). RESULTS: The mean PS score was 15.0 ± 0.2 (maximum, 40) and the mean number of HLFs reported was 2.9 ± 0.03. Females were more likely to report 4-5 HLFs than males (31% vs 20%). We found a statistically significant inverse correlation between PS and HLFs for women (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Health promotion interventions that support healthy food choices, physical activity and low-risk substance use may reduce perceived stress in the college population.