title: Exercise stages of change in Turkish university students by sex, residence, and department.
abstract: To examine the exercise behavior of 953 Turkish university students (496 men, 457 women) by sex, residence, and department of study, a stratified sampling method, based on the total number of students in each department, was used to select participants. The mean age of the participants was 21.3 yr. (SD = 1.9). For completed Physical Activity Stages of Change Questionnaire and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests indicated that most students were at the lower stages of change in exercise habits: Precontemplation (15.2%), Contemplation (31.4%), and Preparation (25.3%), compared with the later stages of Action (7.5%) and Maintenance (20.6%). Women and students from the Department of Architecture were at lower stages of change than men and students from other departments (p < .05), but there were no significant differences between students who were living on or off campus. Stage-based interventions would be appropriate, with focus on the physical activity of women and students in architecture.
authors: Faculty of Education, Physical Education and Sports Department, Middle East Technical University, Inonu Bulvair, Ankara 06531, Turkey.
authors: Cevdet
authors: C
authors: Cengiz
authors: M Levent
authors: ML
authors: Ince
authors: Seref
authors: S
authors: Ciçek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006798:Housing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D014495:Universities