| The purpose of this study was to assess the levels of physical activity and explore the needs of college students in regard to physical activity programming using the Transtheoretical Model (TTM). Six hundred and fifty-nine students at a Midwestern university completed a physical activity programming questionnaire and the Stages of Change questionnaire. After exclusions, 535 questionnaires were used for analysis. Descriptive statistics, frequencies, chi-square tests and Spearman's rank order correlation coefficients were used to analyze survey results. Of the students surveyed, 45.6% met aerobic physical activity guidelines and 38.5% met muscle-strengthening activity guidelines. Males participated in more physical activity than females in both categories. The greatest percentage of students were in the Maintenance stage of the TTM (38.1%). In regard to physical activity programming, the largest percentage of students wanted more variety in times and styles for cardio and strength classes. Programming efforts are needed to increase the percentage of females meeting guidelines. Future research could explore the effectiveness of utilizing TTM stage-matched programming strategies to improve college students' physical activity levels. |
