The sociological imagination is a core component of all introductory sociology courses. A main focus of this perspective is how social forces are related to individual lives. Undergraduates are often socialized to rely on individualistic explanations of public issues. These explanations often blame, dehumanize, and other the victim, thereby…

BACKGROUND: Approximately 37% of college students are overweight or obese and the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated weight management in college students. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a motivational interviewing intervention compared to electronic education (control) on body composition and self-determination…

Objective: To examine sex and racial/ethnic differences in sleep quality and the association between sleep quality and body weight status among US college students. Participants: A nationally representative sample (N = 324,767) of college students from 2011 to 2015. Methods: A secondary data analysis of cross-sectional data. Results: Women showed…

Purpose: To evaluate whether excess body mass influences the heart rate variability (HRV) indexes at rest, and to correlate adiposity indicators and the aerobic fitness with cardiac autonomic variables in metabolically healthy young adults. Method: In all, 41 untrained males (M[subscript age] = 21.80, SD = 2.14 years), 14 normal weight…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether weight-related attitudes mediate the effect of goal orientation on cultural pluralism and diversity attitudes among pre-service physical educators. Results from 235 (Mage = 20.91 years, SD = 7.75) participants confirm the positive relationship between task orientation and attitudes toward…

Objective: To explore the relationship between symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), symptoms of binge eating disorder, and body mass index (BMI) among students at a southern university. Participants: Two hundred seventy-seven college students. Methods: Between January 31, 2013 and March 27, 2013, participants completed the…

Objective: To investigate sex and racial/ethnic differences in overweight and obesity in college students. Participants: A nationally representative sample of 319,342 U.S. college students (mean age = 20.4 years; 67.7% female) from Fall 2011 to Spring 2015. Methods: A secondary data analysis of multi-year cross-sectional data was performed.…

Aim and objectives: In the USA, undergraduate students gain more weight in the first year in college than at any other point in their lives. However, the factors that predict their weight gain are unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the predictors of weight gain among first-year college students at a US college over a 3-month period.…

There is a need for innovative approaches in the classroom to increase student preparedness to address and solve some of today's complex social problems. Interdisciplinary courses can be one way to accomplish this. This is an exploratory study to examine if an interdisciplinary web-based video series is associated with improvements in…

Using Smoke-Free and Tobacco-Free policies on college and university campuses as an example this article discusses these initiatives in the context of the role of health educators and health education programs. Issues raised are ones that health educators need to consider in any intervention effort. While the importance of intervention is well…

Background: Research suggest that genetic testing and its application (personalized medicine/precision medicine) has great potential to help public health professionals deliver proper health promotion and education to target populations who have high predispositions for certain genetic-related diseases. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to…

Objective: To determine if weight gain is accompanied by development of insulin resistance (IR) during 4 years in college. Participants: Two cohorts of college students were enrolled in fall semesters 2009 and 2010 and tracked for 4 years. Methods: Following a 12-hour fast, subjects reported for measurement of body mass index (BMI), perceived…

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine associations of sleep quality and quantity, food security, and physical activity with eating behaviors that may be associated with college weight gain. Participants: College students enrolled in multiple sections of a general education class completed an online survey in January 2016 (n = 153;…

Terah J. Stewart challenges us to think about our attitudes toward fatness and fat bodies and consider how our campuses marginalize people based on body size. He shares his students' stories of dreading to enter a classroom for fear of not finding a seat they can fit in or being publicly admonished for being unhealthy and lazy. Clearly, negative…

Background: College is the first environment in which students are responsible for making all decisions relating to their eating and exercise behaviors. Of all contributing factors to overweight and obesity, one main influence seems to be the environment. Purpose: This study explored college students' perceptions of their nutrition environment on…