Weight loss practices and body weight perceptions among US college students

OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed associations between body weight perception and weight loss strategies. PARTICIPANTS: They randomly selected male and female college students (N = 38,204). METHODS: The authors conducted a secondary data analysis of the rates of weight loss strategies and body weight perception among students who completed the National College Health Assessment survey. RESULTS: Half of respondents (50%) were trying to lose weight, although only 28% of students were overweight or obese. Also, 12% of respondents had inaccurate body weight perception. Women and men with inaccurate body weight perception were significantly more likely to engage in inappropriate weight loss strategies than were those with accurate body weight perception. Of all students attempting to lose weight, 38% used both diet and exercise. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that college students are interested in weight loss and that body weight perception plays an important role in the desire to lose weight.     

Food insecurity among college students

Many college students experience food insecurity. It is important that researchers understand this issue for students because food insecurity is a measure of material hardship more broadly, and it could have negative implications for students' success in college and their lifetime economic opportunities. This review synthesizes researchers' current understanding of food insecurity among college students from a sociological lens focused on economic insecurity and material hardship. It focuses in detail on the breadth and depth of research around food insecurity among college students, exploring how food insecurity is measured, researchers' varying methodologies for assessing it, and topic areas of interest, such as how food insecurity differs by institution type, demographic characteristics, and its associations with health and academic outcomes.     

Characterization of psychiatrically hospitalized college students

Abstract

Objective: To characterize contemporary college students requiring psychiatric hospitalization. Participants and methods: Sociodemographic and diagnostic information was gathered retrospectively and analyzed from the electronic medical records (EMRs) of the consecutive inpatient hospitalizations of 905 college students admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit. Results: Significantly more females compared to males experienced the following: more hospitalizations, more family and financial stressors, more depression, and less psychotic and bipolar disorder. The most frequent diagnosis was a depressive disorder, followed by bipolar disorder, psychotic disorder, and personality disorder, most frequently borderline personality disorder. Half of participants had comorbid diagnoses with substance abuse most common. More than two-thirds of students endorsed social or intimate relationship, academic, and family challenges as psychosocial stressors. In all, 15% of participants had repeat admissions. Conclusions: The present study provides demographic data from a sample of psychiatrically hospitalized college students. Findings can help improve screening and identification of decompensation in college students.     

Predictors of well-being among college students

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Identification of health-related risk behaviors associated with well-being in college students is essential to guide the development of health promotion strategies for this population. The purposes were to evaluate well-being among undergraduate students and to identify health-related risk behaviors that predict well-being in this population. Methods: A cross-sectional Web-based survey of undergraduate students was conducted at a metropolitan university in the Southeast United States. A total of 568 students responded (response rate 14.2%). Data were collected on health-related risk behaviors using the National College Health Assessment II. Results: Controlling demographic characteristics, the best predictive model included physical activity, current tobacco user, depression, ever received mental health services, and sleep quality, which was the strongest predictor (β = .45, p < .001). This model explained 35% of the variance in well-being. Conclusions: Interventions that promote sleep quality among college students may be most beneficial in improving well-being.     

Prevalence of snoring in college students

Snoring in college students may be the earliest presentation of adult sleep-disordered breathing, yet the literature contains few studies that demonstrate its effects on learning or whether early diagnosis leads to interruption of disease progression or prevention of comorbidities. OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: The authors conducted this study in January-April 2004 to assess the prevalence of snoring in college students (N = 2,200). METHODS: They developed a questionnaire on sleep behaviors and distributed it to 18- to 25-year-old undergraduates at a California university. RESULTS: Almost one-third (30%) of participants reported snoring. The prevalence of snoring was higher among men than women (42% and 25%, respectively). The prevalence of self-reported snoring was highest in Asian students (37%). CONCLUSIONS: Snoring is highly prevalent in college students; prevalence is higher in men than women, correlates with body mass index, and varies by ethnicity.     

Screening for hypercholesterolemia in college students

Two national panels have recommended similar, specific strategies for detecting hypercholesterolemia: selective screening for children aged 2 to 19, and mass screening for individuals aged 20 and over. It is, however, unclear how best to apply these recommendations to a college student population. In order to determine which strategy is more efficient, this study compared mass with selective screening of college students for hypercholesterolemia. In the mass screening strategy, all entering students were asked to have their cholesterol levels measured and to provide other coronary risk factor information. In the selective screening strategy, all sophomores with a family history of heart disease were asked to participate in a risk factor screening program. In this study, mass screening identified more hypercholesterolemic students with less effort per case found than did selective screening. We recommend that college health practitioners consider mass screening programs to identify students who could benefit from coronary risk reduction.     

Quality of diet of working college students

Considering the scarcity of studies with young workers and the role of diet in the prevention of chronic diseases, the objective of the study was to assess the quality of diet of working college students. The present study investigated 43 university students, aged between 18 and 25 years old who had systematically being involved in a working activity in the past 6 months, paid or unpaid, at least 6 hours daily, five days a week. Dietary intake measured by seven dietary records covering every day of the week was used to calculate the Brazilian Healthy Eating Index Revised (B-HEIR). It was observed a low B-HEIR score (53.43,±7.81) indicating a risk of a poor quality of diet, with high intake of sodium and sugar and low consumption of fruits and whole grains. This poor quality of diet can result in an inadequate nutritional status that may increase the risk of obesity and chronic diseases.     

Measuring gambling outcomes among college students

The present research describes the proposal and validation of three gambling outcome measures, the Gambling Quantity and Perceived Norms Scale (GQPN), the Gambling Problem Index (GPI), and the Gambling Readiness to Change Questionnaire (GRTC).The study consisted of 560 undergraduate college students who completed a survey including the newly constructed measures and other measures designed to assess convergent validity. Results confirmed good reliability and convergent validity of all three measures. Implications for evaluating efficacy of treatment and prevention interventions are detailed.     

Screening college students for hypercholesterolemia.

Selective screening for children and mass screening for adults are the two strategies for detecting hypercholesterolemia and identifying individuals at risk for early heart attacks that have been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. The interval marking the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood is a time of transition without an unwavering demarcation line. It is a time when many adult disorders that demand attention and detection begin. Because of the close relationship of elevated cholesterol levels in youth to subsequent cardiovascular disease, a small liberal arts university began mandatory mass cholesterol screening for all full- or part-time students who matriculated in September 1977. More than thirty 18- and 19-year-old first-year students with unknown hypercholesterolemia were detected each year. The mean cost per case identified is estimated to have been $212. The author concluded that mass screening of students entering college can identify, at a reasonable cost, students who have high levels of cholesterol.     

Sexual compulsivity among heterosexual college students

A growing body of literature suggests that an association exists between sexual compulsivity and participation in sexual behaviors that are high risk in terms of HIV/STD infection. In most of these studies, sexual compulsivity has been measured using the Sexual Compulsivity Scale (SCS; Kalichman & Rompa, 1995). As yet, sexual compulsivity has only been assessed with this scale among individuals who are members of “high risk” groups for HIV infection or who are HIV‐positive. In this study, we found support for reliability and construct validity of the SCS in a sample of 876 heterosexual college students, a group not yet examined in the sexual addiction and compulsivity literature. Construct validity was substantiated by the presence of significant relationships of sexual compulsivity with frequencies of sexual behaviors and numbers of sexual partners. The scale was also related to gender and age. Sexual compulsivity scores were associated with frequency of risky sexual behaviors. The relationships between sexual compulsivity and solo, partner, public, and risky sexual behaviors remained significant when we controlled for demographic variables. Although we found support for construct validity of the SCS in our sample, it is not clear whether the scale distinctly measures sexual compulsivity or taps into other constructs, such as sexual desire and sexual exploration.     

Sexual compulsivity among heterosexual college students

A growing body of literature suggests that an association exists between sexual compulsivity and participation in sexual behaviors that are high risk in terms of HIV/STD infection. In most of these studies, sexual compulsivity has been measured using the Sexual Compulsivity Scale. As yet, sexual compulsivity has only been assessed with this scale among individuals who are members of high risk groups for HIV infection or who are HIV-positive. In this study, we found support for reliability and construct validity of the SCS in a sample of 876 heterosexual college students, a group not yet examined in the sexual addiction and compulsivity literature. Construct validity was substantiated by the presence of significant relationships of sexual compulsivity with frequencies of sexual behaviors and numbers of sexual partners. The scale was also related to gender and age. Sexual compulsivity scores were associated with frequency of risky sexual behaviors. The relationships between sexual compulsivity and solo, partner, public, and risky sexual behaviors remained significant when we controlled for demographic variables. Although we found support for construct validity of the SCS in our sample, it is not clear whether the scale distinctly measures sexual compulsivity or taps into other constructs, such as sexual desire and sexual exploration.