Relationships between physical fitness, health behaviors, and occupational outcomes in students, faculty, and staff of an American university

Abstract

Objective

This study examined relationships between physical fitness, health behaviors, and occupational outcomes of university affiliates.

Participants

166 university affiliates of an American university (including students, faculty, and staff) participated between October 2018 and March 2020.

Methods

Participants completed fitness measurements, wore a device to measure physical activity (PA) and sleep for one week, and completed a survey evaluating happiness and job satisfaction. Multiple regression models evaluated associations between physical fitness, health behaviors, and occupational outcomes.

Results

45% of participants had “poor” cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and unhealthy % fat. CRF, body composition, and muscular endurance were related to PA while body composition was related to sleep duration. Muscular endurance was related to GPA and job satisfaction.

Conclusions

Findings suggest 45% of university affiliates had deficient physical fitness and may benefit from increasing PA and sleep. Universities should evaluate fitness within holistic programs to improve affiliates’ health and, ultimately, occupational success.

Keywords:

• Health
• fitness
• university students
• faculty
• and staff

Conflicts of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to announce. The research conducted followed the ethical guidelines and standards of the United States. The study (Protocol #1808138910) was reviewed by the IRB at the University of Arkansas and received approval.

Additional information

Funding

This study received no funding throughout data collection or development of the manuscript.