Nutritional Lifestyles of College Women

Abstract

Abstract : A lifestyle characterized by inactivity and poor nutrition is the leading cause of premature death in the U.S., second only to smoking. The purpose of this study is to explore the nutritional lifestyle of college women, and to determine if there are differences in nutritional lifestyle, as well as, perception of health status between black and white college women. The study is a secondary analysis of data using Nola Pender's conceptual framework. The instruments used to collect the data were the Health-Promotion Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) and a background questionnaire The sample included data collected from 340 South Carolinian college women (228 were white and 112 women were black). Results were analyzed using a t test to identify differences in nutritional lifestyles between the black and white women. The results indicated a significant (P .00001) difference. Black women relative to white women practiced fewer healthy nutritional activities. Chi-square was used to examine the perceived health status data between black and white women. The results indicated a significant (0.005) difference. Additionally, black women relative to white women perceived their health status lower than did the white women. Lastly, the Spearman correlation was used to analyze the relationship between nutritional status and perceived health status. The results indicated there was no significance relationship (Z 0.877). Based on these results further studies are needed to find an appropriate intervention to improve black women's nutritional lifestyle.