By Hannah C. Wood (@hannahc_wood), PhD Student at King’s College London.
University students often spend large portions of their day sitting down, around 10.7 hours a day on average according to one review. High levels of sedentary behaviour are associated with negative physical health outcomes, including greater risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and all-cause mortality. Long hours spent sitting have also been positively associated with anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation in university students, independent of the amount of physical activity a student engages in. This is particularly concerning considering the increasing rates of students experiencing mental health issues.
Many university students do not meet the national physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. The benefits of physical activity for mental health and wellbeing are now well-known. Crucially, physical activity not only benefits those who are struggling with their mental health, but may also help to prevent mental ill-health, and the benefits can be seen even for low or moderate-intensity physical activity (e.g., walking). Perhaps encouraging students to engage in more physical activity and break up their sitting time could form a useful part of the whole-university approach to promoting and supporting student mental health and wellbeing.
Embedding Physical Activity into Education
Many activities students do seem to require sitting, for example attending lectures or during private study time. Therefore, while providing a comprehensive sports offering is important, there is more we can do to support students in breaking up extended sitting time throughout their long studying days. Embedding more physical activity into educational activities could be an important opportunity to intervene, given that it is the only direct point of contact a university has with all students, and teaching and learning activities seem somewhat responsible for students’ high levels of sitting.
The need to embed physical activity into the university education experience has only grown more acute since the COVID-19 pandemic. Universities have embraced blended delivery, which likely incurs even lower levels of instrumental physical activity due to the online aspects (e.g., staying at home to watch a lecture rather than travelling to campus).
Our Research Project
I am currently conducting a PhD project, in partnership with HEPI, investigating why university students are often sedentary, where the opportunities for intervention might be, and working to develop recommendations based on these findings. We are looking at this from different perspectives, from building design and timetabling to how to make active learning more physically active.
A Call to Action: How to get involved with the research
Do you hold a senior management role at a UK university? We would like to hear from those holding leadership positions across the university, for example, in education, estates or student support. Please talk to us about your role and student physical activity at your institution in one online 30-60 min interview.
About the study:
We have conducted a series of interviews with university staff directly involved in teaching (e.g., module leaders) and students to increase our understanding of how students’ physical activity is currently helped and hindered by the university education system. Why? We know students are often highly sedentary at university, but not how education contributes to this and where the opportunities for possible intervention might be. We would now like to talk to senior leaders to understand the policies in place and wider context that influence student physical activity. This study will inform the development of potential intervention strategies to increase student physical activity and/or reduce sedentary behaviour.
What will participation involve?
The study will involve one 30-60 min online interview on Microsoft Teams. You will be asked to describe your role and, within your expertise, possible factors influencing student physical activity and sedentary behaviour. We would also like to ask you about possible intervention ideas that resulted from our interviews with staff and students. Questions will be tailored to your specific role. You will receive a £10 Amazon voucher at the end of the interview in appreciation for your time.
I’m interested, how do I sign up?
To find out more or to sign up for the study, please email me at [email protected] with your job title or a brief description of your role and an indication of your availability for the interview.