Kayla Weatherly

Kin 101
Kathryn DeShaw
9/29/21

Physical Education Requirement for University Students

The United States has some of the worst prevalence of chronic diseases when compared

to many other countries. When looking at factors contributing to an individual being diagnosed

with a chronic illness physical inactivity has been found to be a common answer to this health

problem. Knowing this Loras college has proposed to include a physical education requirement

for all its undergraduate students. Implementing this requirement can greatly benefit students

physically as well as academically. Researchers have found that chronic exercise can reduce a

person’s risk of developing a chronic illness but with the development of technology and

knowledge they have discovered other benefits of exercise that can increase a student’s success

in the classroom. This research has found that exercise can benefit an individual’s mental health,

social life, as well as overall quality of life. As college students are notoriously overwhelmed by

many variables while going through school implementing this requirement can help students to

better navigate their college experience.

As first year students exiting high school and entering semi-adulthood many college

freshmen find them selves having a hard time adjusting to life on their own. For many this is

their first time away from home, away from their parents, or away from the support system they

may have grown up with for years. This can be a tough adjustment especially when balancing

school, a social life, and managing time for self-care. With all these new experiences many

students adapt a sedentary lifestyle which increases the risk of developing chronic disease. Not

only are they becoming more sedentary, but their diets may also become unhealthier in an
attempt to save time or to blow off steam from the rigors of college life. Although there are many

studies that explain how physical activity can benefit physical health, there are few

epidemiological studies investigating the relationship between physical activity and mental

wellness.

In a study done by Michael Gradalsmoen in 2020, he and his team investigated what the

relationship between physical activity frequency, intensity, and duration had on mental health

problem. They also explored whether college students with lower rates of physical activity

experienced more incidence of self-harm, and suicidal thoughts (Gradalsmoen, 2020). This study

utilized a national health survey called SHoT2018 done in Norway which used data from over 50

thousand student ages 18-35. In this survey participants answered three questions regarding how

often, and how long they engaged in physical activity, as well as what intensity the exercise was.

Mental health was assessed using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 as well as a pre-defined

list of conditions, each self-reported survey. The results showed that those who participated in

less physical activity were actually in less psychological distress when compared to those who

regularly exercised however this group experienced significantly more incidents of self-harm or

suicide attempts (Gradalsmoen, 2020). The researchers then compared these outcomes to a study

utilizing 1.2 million US students to which they found a strong association between physical

activity and mental health. Gradalsmoen and his team concluded that in despite the negative dose

response found in physically inactive students the benefits out weighted the draw backs seen in

this specific study and that more research needed to be done here in the US to come to a more

concrete answer (Gradalsmoen, 2020).

All around wellness in people involve more than just physical and mental wellbeing. The

biopsychosocial model effectively shows how these three components of life can influence the
other. Through this model we can understand that there is a link between physical health and

social health but very few people understand the relationship that these two have. Nicole

VanKim and her partner Toben Nelson studied the association between vigorous activity and

how it was related to mental health, perceived stress, the social life of college students at a 4 year

institution. The two conducted a national cross sectional sample of US college students, which

included over 14 thousand undergraduate students. Data was collected using a self-report system

for physical activity and socialization levels. Perceived stress was measured using a Cohen

perceived stress scale and mental health was measures using SF-36 questionnaire (VanKim et.al,

2013). The data showed that students who met recommendations for vigorous activity reported

poor mental health less often than those not meeting recommendations. They did discover that

women were meeting these recommendations less often than men however those who did meet

these guidelines less often reported poor mental health (VanKim et.al, 2013). This same

population were less likely to report feeling stressed when compared to the less active students.

In terms of socialization was found to partially mediate the association between the three

variables, meaning that socialization positively affected the benefits of vigorous activity

(VanKim et.al, 2013). It was also specified that race, and biological sex did not affect the

relationship between variables.

Time spent in college is acknowledged as a significant point in developing the foundation

of forming healthy habits that benefit people as they enter adulthood (Snedden, 2019). Although

health related quality of life (HQOL) is a subjective measure of someone’s well-being, nationally

it best expresses how someone is feeling physically and mentally. In the formative years of

development, it is important for students to maintain good physical activity habits into adulthood

to reduce potential risk in their geriatric years. Traci Snedden and their team examined the
impact physical activity can have on the HQOL of division I student’s athlete and general

students. The aim of this cross-sectional survey was to examine and compare the capacity to

which participation in physical activity had on the perceived HQOL of these two populations of

college students (Snedden, 2019). This study examines students from large midwestern

universities which included 842 athletes and over 13 thousand general students. Quality of life

was assessed using the VR-12 questionnaire that yields both a physical and mental health scores.

Participation in a collegiate sport and level of physical activity was self-reported by the students,

and physical activity level was categorized based on level of competition (athlete, club athlete,

intramural, etc.). A two-sample t-test and chi-square test was conducted to analyze the data in

order to compare the difference between the two groups (Snedden, 2019).

In terms of differences in physical component scores (PCS) among senior general

students those who regularly exercised received a higher score than those who reported being

more inactive. This tells us that in terms of physical health senior students had an increased

overall HQOL score than the population reporting more inactivity. Although PCS score were

statistically significant (p=0.02), there wasn’t enough of a difference between athletes and non-

athletes to accept the p-value of the test (Snedden, 2019). Looking at the results of the mental

component scores (MCS), it was found that there was no direct association between year in

school. A linear test was done to assess whether an increase in activity would affect MCS scores

in both populations, to which researchers found this to be true. This test determined that D1

athletes scored significantly higher than non-athletes who still participated in some form of

physical activity (Snedden, 2019). Overall, the D1 athlete population produced higher composite

PCS and MCS score compared to the general student population. The researchers concluded that
there indeed was an association between increased levels of sport and activity and overall mental

health among these two populations (Snedden, 2019).

Though there are many studies highlighting the benefits physical activity can have on

people, Loras college should understand how exercise can potentially be detrimental to it

student. Growing up many may have heard the saying that everything is good in moderation and

the same goes for exercise. As the field of kinesiology has developed over the years one of its

prime objectives it to educate people on the benefits of exercise. However, in the past few

decades some people have taken this promotion of physical activity a bit too far. Although rare

some individuals can find themselves pre-occupied with exercise and in a sense become addicted

to it (Chamberlain et.al, 2020). Even though exercise has a multitude of health benefits, too

much exercise can negatively affect an individual mentally, socially, and even physically

(Chamberlain et.al, 2020). This concept that someone could be addicted to exercise didn’t appear

until the 1980s and although technology and resources have advanced significantly it is still

difficult to diagnose an individual that isn’t aware of this phenomenon (Chamberlain et.al, 2020).

Samuel Chamberlain and Jon Grant wanted to investigate this idea of exercise being

problematic and how this can affect quality of life and other psychological factors. Chamberlain

and Grant study a cohort of young adults from the UK, this population was a random in order to

simulate a “normal” population. This group was tested for problematic exercise using the

Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) screening system, this tool inquires participants about

conflicts in their life related to exercise, any physiological sensations they experience during

exercise, frequency, and to describe mood when going with out exercise. The Brunnsviken Brief

Quality of Life scale (BBQ) was used to assess quality of life covering six aspects of life, leisure

time, view of life, creativity, learning, relationships, and self-view (Chamberlain et.al, 2020).
Following analysis Chamberlain and Grant found that although EAI general score didn’t

correlate with QOL on the BBQ scale, the EAI relationship conflict score did. This simply

suggests that exercise is causes conflict between these individuals and maintaining their personal

relationships (Chamberlain et.al, 2020). The results also indicated that many individuals

participated in exercise as a way to seek sensation, which is a common trait among individuals

addicted to drugs (Chamberlain et.al, 2020). Though the risk of becoming addicted to exercise

isn’t exactly zero, there is always a chance an individual can experience this phenomenon

without even realizing it.

Even understanding that exercise can become addictive promoting the benefits of

physical activity is much more needed in the US. One of the influential factors contributing to

chronic illness, poor quality of life, and increased mortality rates is due to a sedentary lifestyle

that is widespread across the US. In 2018 the CDC reported that 51% of US adults reported

having at least one chronic condition, and 27% who had multiple, and these same adults reported

having worse quality of life (Boersma et.al, 2020). If research is showing that increasing physical

activity at an earlier age can lower the risk of these health problems later on in life, we should be

integrating physical activity into our education system through out college to teach these young

adult healthy habits and how to continue them into adulthood. To combat the risk of college

students participating in problematic exercise, these classes should feature a section educating

students about the disadvantages to their health excessive exercise can pose. Schools should also

provide students with the proper resources in the case of problematic exercise behaviors. If

schools are not promoting physical activity students won’t be inclined to participate in it.
 References

Boersma, P., Black, L., & Ward, B. (2020, September 17). Prevalence of multiple chronic
conditions among us Adults, 2018. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved
September 29, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2020/20_0130.htm.

Chamberlain, S. R., & Grant, J. E. (2020). Is problematic exercise really problematic? A

dimensional approach. CNS spectrums, 25(1), 64–70.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852919000762
Grasdalsmoen, M., Eriksen, H. R., Lønning, K. J., & Sivertsen, B. (2020). Physical exercise,
mental health problems, and suicide attempts in university students. BMC
psychiatry, 20(1), 175. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02583-3
Snedden, T. R., Scerpella, J., Kliethermes, S. A., Norman, R. S., Blyholder, L., Sanfilippo, J.,
McGuine, T. A., & Heiderscheit, B. (2019). Sport and Physical Activity Level Impacts
Health-Related Quality of Life Among Collegiate Students. American journal of health
promotion : AJHP, 33(5), 675–682. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117118817715
Vankim, N. A., & Nelson, T. F. (2013). Vigorous physical activity, mental health, perceived
stress, and socializing among college students. American journal of health promotion :
AJHP, 28(1), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.111101-QUAN-395