Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Weight loss, health, exercise, diet, college
Abstract
The decision to make lifestyle changes as related to health cannot be easily summarized as it involves multiple areas of an individual's life. To examine some of these issues 15 college women who had intentionally experienced significant weight loss during their college years were questioned using a semi-structured interview technique. The interviews contained questions concerning how factors such as identity, motivation, habits, availability of resources, and priorities affected their conscious choice to pursue a healthier lifestyle. Transcriptions were coded and analyzed to determine commonalities in factors related to these lifestyle changes. Three common themes emerged which included having an active lifestyle in high school, more availability of resources in college, and an understanding of their family’s overall health. Most participants ranked their overall health as important to them, but it was not always rated a top priority.
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-20-2016 11:00 AM
End Date
4-20-2016 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Reverse Freshman Fifteen: A Qualitative Study
Cedarville, OH
The decision to make lifestyle changes as related to health cannot be easily summarized as it involves multiple areas of an individual's life. To examine some of these issues 15 college women who had intentionally experienced significant weight loss during their college years were questioned using a semi-structured interview technique. The interviews contained questions concerning how factors such as identity, motivation, habits, availability of resources, and priorities affected their conscious choice to pursue a healthier lifestyle. Transcriptions were coded and analyzed to determine commonalities in factors related to these lifestyle changes. Three common themes emerged which included having an active lifestyle in high school, more availability of resources in college, and an understanding of their family’s overall health. Most participants ranked their overall health as important to them, but it was not always rated a top priority.
