Objective: The study assessed perceived health, health behaviors and conditions, and medical care utilization among students of different weight categories. Participants: Participants were college students (n = 37,583) from 58 institutions who responded to a national survey of student health behaviors. Methods: Chi-squared and mixed model analyses…

Objective: Social physique anxiety (SPA) is characterized by concerns of evaluation focused on one's physical appearance. Past work suggests factors such as gender, body mass index (BMI), and exercise habits uniquely contribute to SPA. However, no study has examined the interactions between these three variables. The current study sought to…

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has been linked with caloric overeating and weight gain. We employed a mediation analysis to determine whether pandemic-associated overeating was a direct effect of COVID-19-related anxiety (affect regulation theory) or mediated by a coping mechanism of escape eating (escape theory). A diverse pool of college…

Purpose: Research shows peer health education programs on university campuses can support students in pursuing sustainable health-related behavior changes. However, few programs deliver peer health education through a nondiet, weight-inclusive framework. Research shows that health educators who challenge the status quo of diet culture and…

Objective: The efficacy of effort appraisal exercise action plans was tested among underactive and inactive university students (N = 221). Methods: Students were randomized across three conditions (information, action planning, or realistic effort action planning (REAP)) and participated in psychoeducational small-group sessions. Students returned…

Objective: To examine the association of CRF and adiposity with cardiometabolic risk factors and metabolic syndrome among emerging adults. Participants: 5681 (60.1% Men; 21 ± 1years) college students from a large university located in the northeast of the United States. Methods: Participants completed an objective health assessment that involved…

The current study aims to examine the mediational effects of explicit weight stigma and moral disengagement (MD) and moderating effects of empathy on the relationship between implicit weight stigma and bullying perpetration. Two hundred and twenty-eight college students (112 men, mean age of 19.89 ± 1.82 years) completed implicit (the Single…

Objective: Body dissatisfaction elevates the risk for disordered eating behaviors. Excessive exercise is prevalent among college women and associated with harm. Risk theory posits a bidirectional relationship between risk factors for disordered eating behaviors and the behaviors themselves. This study investigated the longitudinal, reciprocal…

Objective: The present study aims to examine whether secondhand smoke exposure (SHSE) in university students can affect three indices of self-satisfaction related to depression as indiced by appearance, weight, and freedom of life choice. Participants: We collected data from 740 nonsmoking students in the summer of 2018, of which 57.84% were…

Objectives: To examine the discrepancy between 'told' and screened blood pressure (BP) category, and the association between body composition and told BP category. Methods: Between 08/2019-03/2020 college students (n = 1057) were asked what category they had previously been told their BP falls into prior to having their BP and body composition…

The present study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the Tendency to Avoid Physical Activity and Sport Scale (TAPAS) among university students living in Hong Kong to assess weight and body image concerns. A convenience sample of 787 students (63.5% females; 24.5% overweight) were recruited online. The factor structure of the scale was…

The purpose of this study was to examine exercise preferences of college students (CS), and explore potential gender differences to inform interventions. Participants (N = 187, 18-25 years) completed an online survey. Descriptive statistics were conducted to characterize preferences for exercise type and mode of delivery, followed by X[superscript…

This study placed the phenomenon of college women's fat talk within response styles theory. We predicted that with increasing trait body dissatisfaction there would be an increase in rumination leading to a greater frequency of fat talk. We also predicted that neuroticism would moderate this mediation pathway, and that these effects would occur…

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic had implications on students' life. This study aims to identify positive and negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on students' life habits with the final goal to promote their general wellbeing. Methods: An online questionnaire was administered to Greek undergraduate and graduate college students during the…

Objective: Emotional eating is prevalent among college women. Deficits in interoceptive awareness, or the ability to perceive and identify internal sensations, are associated with emotional eating. Separately examining the specific components of interoceptive awareness, appetite and emotional awareness, in relation to emotional eating may improve…