title: Assessment of college students' awareness and knowledge about conditions relevant to metabolic syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the increasing prevalence of metabolic syndrome among young adults, little is known about the awareness level of college students about this condition. The purpose of this study was to assess students' level of awareness and knowledge about conditions relevant to metabolic syndrome (MetS).
  
  
  METHODS
  A self-reported online questionnaire was administered to 243 students attending Central Michigan University. Questions were divided into seven conditions: diabetes, adiposity, hypertension, high serum cholesterol, arteriosclerosis, stroke, and myocardial infarction. Students' responses were scored and interpreted as follows: poor knowledge if ≤50% of students answered the question correctly; fair knowledge if between 51-80% of students answered the question correctly; and good knowledge if between 81-100% of students answered the question correctly. Anthropometric measurements including height, weight, waist circumference, percentage body fat, and visceral fat score were measured. Fisher's exact test was used to test the differences in students' responses. A p value <0.05 was considered a statistically significant difference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than 80% of students correctly identified symptoms and complications of diabetes, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, myocardial infarction and stroke, and 92% identified adiposity as a risk factor for heart disease. There were few false beliefs held by students on questionnaire items. For example, 58% of male students falsely believed that individuals with diabetes may only eat special kinds of sweets compared to 39% of females (p < 0.01) and more than half of the students falsely identified liposuction as the best possible treatment in adiposity therapy. Gender, Health Science major, and year in school were found to be positively associated with more knowledge.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings in this study suggest that students' knowledge about conditions relevant to metabolic syndrome can be improved. In this essence, raising awareness about MetS based on students' pre-existing knowledge is essential to enhance students' wellness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Environmental Studies, Central Michigan University, Wightman 108, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 USA.
authors.forename: Najat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yahia
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Jaharis 264, Boston, Massachusetts 02111 USA.
authors.forename: Carrie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Environmental Studies, Central Michigan University, Wightman 108, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 USA.
authors.forename: Melyssa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rapley
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Jaharis 264, Boston, Massachusetts 02111 USA.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chung
keywords: Adiposity; Cardiovascular risk factors; College students; Lay knowledge; Metabolic syndrome