The comparison of selected lifestyle variables of first-year students at two universities in Košice

• Authors: Peter Bakalár , Ivan Matúš , Martina Hančová
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The objective of the presented paper was to compare the selected variables of lifestyle in first - year students at two universities in Košice. The research sample group consisted of the first - year students of the P. J. Šafá rik University in Košice (UPJŠ, n=918, 651 women and 267 men) and the Technical University in Košice (TUKE, n=653, 239 women and 414 men). We compiled our own test battery named “The risk factors of obesity and its prevention through physical activity” and administered it to students at the beginning of the respective academic years (September 2012 and September 2013). Presented paper focuses on questions related to: the students' satisfaction with their lifestyle, students expressing a need to change their lifestyle, frequency of structured physical activity, motivation to engage in structured physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and a structure of leisure activities. To process the collected data, we used the statistical software R. To test the signific ance of differences between the universities we used the Wilcoxon rank - sum test. N o significant difference between the universities was found on variables indicating the satisfaction with lifestyle. The most repeated lifestyle components that students of b oth universities would like to change were physical activity and dietary habits. These data reflect the findings that in the last half year over 61.5 % of UPJŠ students and 48.9 % of TUKE students were engaged in structured physical activity either irregul arly or they were not engaged in any structured physical activity at all. Another analysis of significant difference (p<0.001) between the two universities was employed to indicate the frequency with which students engaged in structured physical activity. The analysis revealed a higher frequency in students of TUKE. The analysis also confirmed that the gender of a respondent had a greater influence on that difference than the university they attended. The students of both universities indicated that figure (appearance), enjoyment, health and physical fitness were the main motivators for structured physical activity. The difference between the universities, with regard to variables indicating the time which students spent engaged in sedentary behaviours was s ignificant (p<0.001) during both working days and weekend days, where gender had no influence on this difference. Sedentary behaviours prevailed among the most common leisure activities in students of both universities. At the beginning of their university studies, lifestyle of a large number of first - year students at the two universities is characterized by the low level of engagement in structured physical activity and by sedentary leisure activities, with the existing differences between genders and the universities.

Keywords

EN

leisure activities; lifestyle; motivation; sedentary behaviour; structured physical activity; university students

• Journal: Physical Activity Review
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 4
• Pages: 192-199

Contributors

author

Peter Bakalár

• Institute of Physical Education and Sport, University of P. J. Šafárik in Košice, Slovakia,

author

Ivan Matúš

• Institute of Physical Education and Sport, University of P. J. Šafárik in Košice, Slovakia

author

Martina Hančová

• Faculty of Science, University of P. J. Šafárik in Košice, Slovakia

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• Document Type: paper