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Effect of a Personal Health and Fitness Course on Dietary Intake, Physical Fitness and Attitudes toward Wellness among College Students

Robert Topp, Jenna Speltz, Christopher Simenz, Paula Zelm and Jamie Topp

The purpose of this study was to determine if a college course in Personal Health and Fitness that includes Fitness Interns (FI) can impact dietary intake, physical fitness and attitudes towards a healthy dietary intake and physical activity among college students. Two different versions of the intervention were delivered as a component of a 3-credit hour undergraduate “Personal Health and Fitness” course. The content of this course included a classroom lecture, weekly homework and a weekly meeting with FI who was an upperclassmen who was enrolled in Exercise Physiology. During the first version of the intervention (Class 1, n=20) the subjects met with the FI once per week to complete assigned homework. Subjects exposed to the second intervention (Class 2, n=29) also met with a FI once per week to complete the homework assignment and to engage in at least 30 minutes of a physical fitness activity per week with the FI. The course content and homework was based upon the Theory of Planned Behavior and was designed to improve the dietary intake and physical activity of the subjects in both intervention groups. Control subjects (n=24) who volunteered for the study were not registered for “Personal Health and Fitness” and had no access to the course content or the FIs. During the first and last weeks of fall semester all subjects completed an assessment of their dietary intake, physical fitness and attitudes (control beliefs and outcome expectations). Both intervention groups exhibited significant (p<.05) reduced caloric intake and improvements in physical fitness and attitudes toward a healthy dietary intake and physical activity with Class 2 exhibiting a greater number of improvements compared to Class 1. The control group did not change on any outcome variables. These findings indicate the efficacy of a “Personal Health and Fitness” course on antecedents to weight gain among college students.