title: Prevalence of sufficient physical activity among parents attending a university.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The benefits of regular physical activity are well documented. However, approximately half of all university students are insufficiently active, and no research to date exists on the activity behavior of university students who are also parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using an adapted version of the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (ie, the Physical Activity Prevalence Questionnaire), the authors examined the prevalence of sufficient physical activity among 245 parent students from 6 faculties and 12 programs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Half (49.5%) of the students who were not parents (n = 90) were sufficiently physically active, compared with 16% of students who were parents (n = 3, p < .002). The authors found that 33.3% of parents and 13% of nonparents limited their activity level as a result of illness or injury (p < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most parent students in this study were insufficiently active and at potential risk for the negative health consequences of inactivity. This is a grossly understudied population, and researchers must conduct further studies to understand what can be done to facilitate physical activity among this potentially vulnerable group of students.
authors.affiliation: Ontario's Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Western, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sabourin
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Irwin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014495:Universities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*