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Nov. 15, 2006
Contact: Gordon Ovenshine: 724-738-4854;
gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu
SRU EXERCISE SCIENCE MAJOR WINS AWARD FOR RESEARCH
ON PERCEPTIONS OF BODY WEIGHT AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. --Jennifer Basich, an exercise
science major at Slippery Rock University, won the Undergraduate
Student Investigator Award at the 29th Mid-Atlantic
Regional Conference of the American College of Sports Medicine for
her research showing many college students don’t recognize
they may need to lose weight.
Faulty perception of body weight and lack of exercise contribute
to weight problems among college students, the junior from
Leetonia, Ohio, reported in “Perceptions of Body Weight and
Weight Gain in America and Spanish College Students.”
Basich collected half her data while spending a semester abroad
at La Universidad de Alcala de Henares in Spain and the other half
at SRU. She surveyed students on body weight perceptions habits and
the role of exercise in maintaining proper weight.
“People have a hard time thinking of themselves as
overweight when they look around and they’re the same size as
everyone else,” she said.
Her research findings suggest many college students who are
overweight, according to health standards established by the
National Institutes of Health, misclassify themselves as being
“about the right weight.” This was particularly true of
the men she studied.
Further, most of the American students who had gained weight in
the past year did not identify “lack of physical
activity” as an important reason for their weight gain. In
fact, the American students who gained weight were only about half
as likely as the Spanish students to recognize the importance of
physical activity for help in avoiding weight gain in
themselves.
Her research is important because it tells us that we need to
focus attention on educating people to recognize their own healthy
weight,” said Dr. Jeff Lynn, SRU assistant professor exercise
and rehabilitative science and her adviser. “Other research
has helped us understand how people gain and lose weight, but her
study showed many people don’t even recognize they need to
lose weight.”
The American College of Sports Medicine is a nonprofit
organization that integrates scientific research to provide
educational and practical applications of exercise science and
sports medicine. Students from Gettysburg College, Syracuse
University, Skidmore College and Cornell University also made
undergraduate research presentations. The conference was held in
Harrisburg.
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