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. 2014 Apr;4(4):229-239.
doi: 10.4236/ojpm.2014.44029.

Physical Activity and Fruit and Vegetable Intake among Black and White Female College Students at Two- and Four-Year Colleges and Universities

Carla J Berg  1 , Sherell Brown Goodwin  1 , Erin Stratton  1 , Kincaid Lowe  1 , Linda Grimsley  2 , Jan Rodd  2 , Catherine Williams  2 , Cheri Mattox  3 , Bruce Foster  4
Affiliations

Physical Activity and Fruit and Vegetable Intake among Black and White Female College Students at Two- and Four-Year Colleges and Universities

Carla J Berg et al. Open J Prev Med. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: We compared fruit and vegetable (FV) intake, physical activity (PA), and overweight/ obesity among Black and White females attending two- and four-year colleges.

Methods: We recruited 24,055 students at six colleges in the Southeast to complete an online survey, yielding 4840 responses (20.1% response rate). The current analyses focused on the 2276 Black and White females.

Results: Binary logistic regression analyses indicated that recommended FV intake among White females was associated with greater extraversion (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.05, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.00, 1.11, p = 0.05) and greater conscientiousness (OR = 1.08, CI 1.02, 1.14, p = 0.01), whereas among Black females correlates included greater openness to experience (OR = 1.08, CI 1.01, 1.15, p = 0.03). Ordinal logistic regression analyses indicated that, among White females, greater PA was associated with attending a four-year college (Beta = 0.27, CI 0.01, 0.53, p = 0.04), whereas among Black females, correlates were with younger age (Beta = 0.01, CI 0.17, 0.03, p = 0.003) and greater emotional stability (Beta = 0.07, CI 0.01, 0.13, p = 0.02). Binary logistic regression analyses indicated that, among White females, being overweight or obese was associated with older age (OR = 1.08, CI 1.01, 1.16, p = 0.03), attending a two-year college (OR = 1.62, CI 1.22, 2.16, p = 0.001), and lower satisfaction with life (OR = 0.96, CI 0.94, 0.98, p = 0.002), whereas among Black females, being overweight or obese was associated with older age (OR = 1.87, CI 1.10, 1.28, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Identifying factors related to obesity-related factors is critical in developing interventions targeting factors associated with overweight and obesity among Black and White females attending two- and four-year colleges. Moreover, understanding different college settings and the contextual factors associated with overweight/obesity is critical.

Keywords: College Students; Female Health; Nutrition; Obesity; Physical Activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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