Date of Award

Summer 8-1-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Physical Education

First Advisor

Yasenka Peterson

Second Advisor

Kimberly Bodey

Third Advisor

Blanche W. Evans

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in eating behaviors, physical activity level, alcohol and recreational drugs consumption, cigarette and smokeless tobacco consumption, and sedentary behaviors between physical education (PE) majors and other health-related (HR) majors. Participants were students enrolled in randomly selected undergraduate classes that were required for their majors offered by the College ofNursing, Health and Human Services at a Midwestern university in the United States. A total of 292 students agreed to participate in the study and completed a survey instrument. Sixteen participants reported their majors as other than PE or HR and, therefore, were excluded from all analyses. The author hypothesized that no significant difference would be found in eating behaviors, physical activity level, alcohol and recreational drugs consumption, cigarette and smokeless tobacco consumption, and sedentary behaviors between PE majors and HR majors. The study wide level of significance of p :::;;.05 was corrected to control for Type I error using the Bonferroni method. Each independent samples t test was analyzed using p :::;;.Ollevel of significance. No significant difference was found between PE and HR majors in eating behaviors, alcohol and recreational drugs consumption, cigarette and smokeless tobacco consumption, and sedentary behaviors. A significant difference was found (p = .000) for physical activity level. The PE majors were almost twice as active as HR majors. IV In conclusion, PE and HR majors are similar to the general college student population in term of eating behaviors, alcohol and recreational drugs consumption, and cigarette and smokeless tobacco consumption. However, future studies should examine if the difference observed in physical activity level between PE and HR majors is a result of the time PE majors spend in activities classes required for their majors or a result of having more knowledge about the importance of being active.

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