Health and Fitness App Use in College Students: A Qualitative Study

Abstract:

Background: College students experience weight gain that can contribute to serious health issues. Health education efforts with college students are increasingly utilizing new technologies. Smartphone applications (apps) in particular are growing in popularity and use in all young adults. Purpose: Formative research was conducted to describe how college students in the southwestern United States use health/fitness apps to change behavior. Method: College students (n = 27) ages 18-30 reporting use of health/fitness apps were recruited on a large public university campus and participated in interviews about app choice, behavioral goals, features, and reasons for continued use. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for themes using a 4-person coding team and the qualitative research software NVivo. Results: Most participants downloaded an app to meet a goal and felt that the app helped them meet it. Two distinct groups emerged, those who used apps to support an established behavior and those who used them to adopt a new behavior. The majority of participants reported that acceptable apps were free, easy to use, provided visual/auditory cues, and had game-like rewards. Most participants strongly opposed linking their social media with apps and did not use those features. Discussion: College students use apps to meet different goals such as developing an exercise routine or improving eating habits. Examining what influences health/fitness app choices among college students may provide important insights for future interventions developed to promote app use over long periods of time. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health education programming may benefit from the use of apps, because college students are already adopting these technologies. Features that are important such as ease of use and game-like rewards can help health educators choose appropriate apps for college student programs.

My Opinion:

Gowin et al perform a study to observe, collect data and evaluate what kind of tools to actually help campus students to be more encouraged in performing physical activity. The article focus on using smartphone physical fitness apps, either from Android and iOS platform. Based on the result, the apps do actually help students to either to develop a sedentary habit, or to improve their goals of fitness.

Some of the apps do actually provide a proper guidance to perform some of the routine which actually can prevent any additional injuries to the students. The app also provide guide on how the students should eat or what to eat.

Students sometimes don’t have to time to plan their physical fitness program, hence the app can help them to plan and store their progress. When they manage to get free time, the app can recover and unpause from where they stop in doing some exercise. The app also stores the students’ weight, BMI, target, distance achieve and some other essential data, which could facilitate the students’ goals.

And since we are talking about campus students which categorize as younger adults, they are much easy in terms of adapting to the new way to help them to achieve a much sedentary habits. But, some of the good apps needed the students to sign in and purchase which might burdened some of the students. Thus, it is wise for their university to find an alternative or giving fund or even develop their own app. After all, their students will gain the benefits, and the campus will be more productive.

Too bad, for developing countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, the thought for the universities to provide funds is kind of difficult and needed support from government and NGO.

Reference:

1.       Health and Fitness App Use in College Students: A Qualitative Study: American Journal of Health Education: Vol 46, No 4. (2016). American Journal of Health Education. [online] Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19325037.2015.1044140?scroll=top&needAccess=true [Accessed 30 Aug. 2016].