Background:  The chronotype of a person refers to an individual's natural sleep-wake cycle and whether that individual prefers morning or evening activities, and grit is an individual's perseverance and passion for long-term goals.Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between grit, chronotype, physical activity, and leading a healthy lifestyle in college-age students.Methods:  Health and fitness data (i.e., chronotype, grit, lifestyle assessment score, and daily steps) from 431 first-semester university students at a private college were collected and analyzed. Results: This study found that grit and chronotype both have significant correlations with living a healthy lifestyle and with physical activity. Grit more accurately predicts a person's lifestyle (β = -13.712, r = 0.39, p < 0.0001) while chronotype more accurately predicts the physical activity, or steps, of a person (β = 66.48, r = .19, p = .0001). Chronotype can also accurately predict the grit of a person (r = .25, p < .0001), and it was found that morning people tend to have more grit.Conclusions:  This study concluded that grit, chronotype, steps, and a healthy lifestyle are all significantly correlated with each other. Knowing the relationship between endogenous chronotype, grit, and living a physically active and healthy lifestyle can help inform policy decisions related to the goal of strengthening an institution's inclusive and healthy academic community.

Objectives The relationship between a college student’s chronotype and body mass index (BMI) is important to understand for university decision makers who want to build healthy and inclusive academic communities. This study aimed to evaluate how a student’s chronotype influences their BMI. Material and Methods Participants were college students from Oral Roberts University (n=384) with a mean age of 18.94 years, a mean BMI of 24.7kg/m 2 , and a mean morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ) score of 47.65. Results BMI values were significantly correlated with both chronotype (r=-.11, β=-.09, p=.03) and age (r=.12, β=.53, p=.02). The rate at which BMI increased with age depended upon the student’s chronotype (β=.81-.005 / MEQ, p=.005). The later the chronotype, the higher the rate of increase. Race had no significant influence on MEQ or BMI values except in the case of students who identified as Black and female. These students were found, on average, to have significantly higher BMI values (p<.01). Conclusion For college students, BMI tends to increase over time and at a rate that is dependent upon chronotype. The later the chronotype, the faster the rate at which BMI increases. BMI values were found to be significantly higher for Black females. However, this result is potentially spurious, as BMI does not take into account differences in body composition between genders and race/ethnicity groups.

BackgroundPersonality traits are known factors that may influence levels of physical activity and other healthy lifestyle measures and behaviors that ultimately lead to health problems later in life.Participants and procedureThe aim of this study was to examine the association between personality traits (HEXACO) and levels of physical activity and resting heart rate (RHR) – measured using Fitbits, BMI, and a self-reported whole-person healthy lifestyle score for N = 2580 college students. Data were collected and analyzed for students enrolled in a University Success type course from August 2017 to May 2021. The relationships between HEXACO personality traits and various physical activity and healthy lifestyle behaviors were analyzed by building several multiple regression models using R version 4.0.2.ResultsIn general, students who are extraverted were more physically active and students who are more open to experience had a higher RHR, even when controlling for gender. Females and males however had different profiles as to how personality influenced physical activity and other health-related measures. Male extraverts with high negative emotionality scores tend to be more physically active, whereas females tend to be more physically active when they were high in extroversion and conscientiousness, and low in openness to experience. BMI values were higher for female participants with high honesty-humility and low agreeableness and conscientiousness scores. Females also had a lower RHR for high honesty-humility and emotionality and low conscientiousness scores.ConclusionsPersonality can influence levels of physical activity, RHR, and BMI. This is especially true of women. Being aware of one’s personality and the relationship of personality traits to levels of physical activity and other measures of leading a healthy lifestyle can be beneficial in determining strategies to improve long-term health outcomes.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic adversely disrupted university student educational experiences worldwide, with consequences that included increased stress levels and unhealthy sedentary behavior. Aim: This study aimed to quantify the degree of impact that COVID-19 had on the levels of physical activity and stress of university students by utilizing wearable fitness tracker data and standard stress survey instrument scores before and during the pandemic. Methods: We collected Fitbit heart rate and physical activity data, and the results of a modified Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) stress survey from 2,987 university students during the Fall 2019 (residential instruction; before COVID-19) and Fall 2020 (hybrid instruction; during COVID-19) semesters. Results: We found indicators of increased sedentary behavior during the pandemic. There was a significant decrease in both the levels of physical activity as measured by mean daily step count (↓636 steps/day; p = 1.04 · 10-9) and minutes spent in various heart rate zones (↓58 minutes/week; p = 2.20 · 10-16). We also found an increase in stressors during the pandemic, primarily from an increase in the number of students who experienced the “death of a close family member” (38.8%), with the number even higher for the population of students who opted to stay home and attend classes virtually (41.4%). Conclusions: This study quantifies the decrease in levels of physical activity and notes an increase in the number of students who experienced the death of a close family member, a known stressor, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings allow for more informed student-health-focused interventions related to the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions experienced by academic communities worldwide.

Background: Having an abnormal body mass index (BMI) adversely affects cardiac workload and level of physical activity. Objective: To examine the relationship between cardiac workload, physical activity, Sex, and BMI. Methods: The number of steps taken per day (Steps) and minutes per week spent in targeted heart rate zones were collected from primarily first and second year university students (n = 1,801; 62% female) over a standard, 15-week long semester. Other data collected included BMI, Sex, Age, and Class Standing. Sex differences in BMI, Steps, and training heart rate zone (heart rates above 50% of max) minutes (THR) were evaluated, correlations between the study parameters were analyzed, and one-way ANOVA was used to test between competing models. The values p < .05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Statistically significant (p < .05) differences between males and females were found for Steps, THR, and BMI. Males were more physically active but spent 18% less time with heart rates above 50% of max. Students who had abnormal BMI values, both low and high, experienced greater cardiac workload (p < .05), even though they were found to be less physically active (p < .05). Conclusion: Our study revealed that university students with abnormal BMI values experienced greater cardiac workload, even though they are less physically active. Thus, physical fitness and healthy lifestyle interventions should also include underweight students in addition to students who are overweight or obese.