University Health Class: Keep or Cut? Implications for the Future

ABSTRACT

As health and fitness continue to decline and metabolic risk factors reciprocate with increasing incidence in younger and larger cohorts, the importance of conceptually based university health classes cannot be underestimated. Health classes are plentiful in university course offerings but fewer and fewer institutions require a health-related course as part of the graduation requirements. Here, the importance of required health courses on the health and fitness of college students is explored in a study of 2100 participants. A semester-long health course significantly impacted the fitness of students by enhancing cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, and flexibility. Their health also improved as indicated by decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressures, resting heart rate, and body fatness. While this age group is typically increasing in BMI, the health course students were maintaining BMI. These results confirm the essential nature of required health courses in those institutions committed to the health and fitness of its students.

KEYWORDS:

• Health class
• metabolic syndrome risk factors
• college
• university
• health-related fitness
• students
• obesity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).