Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2022 Oct 13;17(10):e0275848. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275848. eCollection 2022.
Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as unhealthy diets, low physical activity levels, smoking, and harmful alcohol consumption are common in student populations, which constitute a large group of young adults. As unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are associated with future disease and premature mortality, most commonly from cardiovascular disease and cancers, it is from a public health perspective important to understand such behaviors in young adult populations. The objective of this study was to investigate university students' experiences of health, health-related behaviors, and the barriers and facilitators for behavior change in terms of health promotion in everyday life.
This qualitative study was conducted at a middle-sized university in Sweden. Students represented different faculties and were recruited via non-probability convenience sampling using means such as the snowball technique and social media. The 21 interviews with 24 students, individually or in groups, were transcribed verbatim prior to a qualitative analysis inspired by phenomenological hermeneutics.
Our interviews showed that university student life is associated with new health-related challenges, for example study-related stress and procrastination implies a lack of energy to engage in healthy routines such as physical activity, and a limited budget affects food choices. While adapting to a new context, students explore personal strategies such as taking on changes in manageable steps, seeking social support, and avoiding disturbances to maintaining health and quality of life.
Experiences of health while becoming and being a university student can be described as a transition-a balancing act of walking a slack line-during which students seek to manage a healthy balance. In the past, interventions have to some extent been designed to address university students' behaviors; however, our study aids an understanding of their needs. Future interventions should highlight the transitions they are experiencing and the challenges of student life.
不健康的生活方式行为，如不健康的饮食、低身体活动水平、吸烟和有害饮酒，在学生群体中很常见，学生群体构成了一大群年轻人。由于不健康的生活方式行为与未来的疾病和过早死亡有关，最常见的是心血管疾病和癌症，因此从公共卫生的角度来看，了解年轻人群体的此类行为很重要。本研究的目的是调查大学生的健康体验、与健康相关的行为，以及日常生活中促进健康方面行为改变的障碍和促进因素。
这项定性研究在瑞典的一所中等规模的大学进行。学生代表不同的学院，通过非概率方便抽样，使用滚雪球技术和社交媒体等方式招募。对 24 名学生的 21 次个人或小组访谈进行了逐字记录，然后进行了受现象学解释学启发的定性分析。
我们的访谈表明，大学生活与新的健康相关挑战有关，例如与学习相关的压力和拖延意味着缺乏精力来进行健康的日常活动，如体育活动，以及有限的预算会影响食物选择。在适应新环境的过程中，学生探索个人策略，例如采取可管理的步骤进行改变、寻求社会支持以及避免干扰以维持健康和生活质量。
成为大学生和作为大学生的健康体验可以被描述为一种过渡——一种走在松弛线上的平衡行为——在此期间，学生试图保持健康的平衡。过去，干预措施在一定程度上是为了解决大学生的行为问题而设计的；然而，我们的研究有助于了解他们的需求。未来的干预措施应该强调他们正在经历的过渡和学生生活的挑战。
