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Abstract

Purpose: To establish the college undergraduate students' self-rated physical activity involvement over a 7-day period. Methodology: The study utilized the survey method using the International Physical Activity Short Version of the Questionnaire (IPAQ). The purpose of the questionnaires is to provide a common instrument that can be used to obtain internationally comparable data on health-related physical activity. The study was undertaken at a medium sized campus in the South Western part of U.S.A., with respondents drawn from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Results: A total of 220 students responded to the questionnaire. Most of the respondents, 182 (82.73%) commuted to campus; most, 128 (58.18%) were aged between 21 and 30; and the majority, 137 (62.27%) were females, 9 (4.09%) were freshmen, 39 (17.73%) sophomores, 114 (51.82%) juniors and 58 (26.36%) senior undergraduate students. Regarding the frequency of engaging in vigorous physical activity, the study established that 75 (34.09%) students did it less than two times a week, with 19 (8.64%) of them reporting zero involvement, 107 (48.64%) did between 3 to 5 days and 38 (17.27%) did it almost daily ie. more than six times a week. Regarding participation in moderate physical activity, 89 (40.45%) reported only for less than two days with 13 (5.91%) indicating zero participation; 96 (43.64%) reported participation between 3 to 5 days; and 35 (15.91%) did for more than six days a week. Students were also asked to indicate the number of days they managed to walk for at least 10 minutes at a time, and 47 (21.36%) indicated less than two times with 19 (8.64%) indicating no time at all; 66 (30%) indicated 3 to 5 days and 107 (48.64%) indicated doing it more than six times a week. Conclusions: Overall, the majority of the respondents regularly engaged in walking, moderate and vigorous physical activity on most days of the week. One limitation of this study is the fact that the data was self-reported by the participants. Self-reporting could entail either under-reporting or exaggerating. Additionally, there is need to study a more diverse student population drawn from multiple institutions and where possible drawn from different states and countries.