title: Determination of Factors Affecting Physical Activity Status of University Students on a Health Sciences Campus.
abstract: Upon graduation, students studying in departments related to health will work in the health sector and will guide and enlighten people with their knowledge and behavior. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting the physical activity (PA) conditions of university students on a health sciences campus. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 706 students in a Turkish university. The data was obtained from a survey prepared by the researchers. The 26-question survey aimed to discover the students' socio-demographic characteristics and their awareness and practices concerning PA. We found that 30% of the students engage in some type of PA during their university education. A relationship was observed concerning their current PA and their family inactivity levels, as well as between inactivity before entering the university and inactivity during their education. The presence of a chronic disease in family members does not affect student PA. A majority of the students believe PA is beneficial (98.7%), 93.9% believe it relieves stress, and 94.5% believe it helps control body weight. Although students of medicine and related disciplines are aware of the importance of proper diet and adequate levels of PA in health, they did not implement theory into practice. Thus, it is questionable how young health professionals will promote the positive effects and necessity of regular physical activity if they do not apply these activities to their own lifestyle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayfer
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dayi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Acikgoz
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Guven
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guvendi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bayrak
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Burcu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ersoy
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cagri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gur
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozmen
mesh_terms: D001690:Biological Science Disciplines; D003710:Demography; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013177:Sports; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult