The Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle for College Students

Review of Chapter One from Introduction to Wellness, Fitness, and Lifestyle Management
As the nation continues to struggle to recover from the ongoing Covid-19 virus pandemic, the concept of wellness has assumed new importance and relevance. Furthermore, until just a century or so ago, humans were far less concerned about the concept of wellness over the lifespan simply because they died much younger than most people do today. In sharp contrast, though, children born today have a reasonably good chance of living into their hundreds, assuming the current pandemic is resolved in the foreseeable future. Against this backdrop, it is important to develop a better understanding concerning the fundamental factors that contribute to human wellness. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of chapter one from Introduction to Wellness, Fitness and Lifestyle Management. Following the review, a summary of the research and key findings from chapter one are presented in the conclusion.
Review and Discussion
In the introductory chapter, the authors provide an overview and description of the six dimensions of wellness (i.e., physical, emotional, intellectual, interpersonal, spiritual and environmental) as well as a discussion concerning the respective qualities and behaviors that are associated with each of these dimensions. In addition, in a sidebar, the authors also provide a description of occupational wellness together with strategies that can help individuals achieve such wellness. Likewise, the authors make the point that, like Maslow’s hierarchy, these dimensions of wellness exist along a holistic, interrelated continuum, and the higher the level of wellness in one dimensions, the higher the levels of wellness are likely to be in other dimensions. In other words, when individuals’ physical health levels are high, their ability to care for their basic living needs translates into their ability to achieve higher levels in other dimensions as well.
An especially interesting issue that was identified by the authors was the fact that the concept of wellness is relatively recent, and that just a century ago, most people did not enjoy the luxury of being concerned about the condition of their wellness over the course of a lengthy lifetime because life expectancy was only around 43 years. This means that the majority of people 100 years ago were not suffering from many of the same age-related disorders that are becoming increasingly commonplace today, and the decisions about healthy lifestyle choice were far less important (Hermon & Davis, 2009). This situation, today, however, is vastly different and increasing numbers of health care consumers are focusing on remaining healthy throughout their lives. In this regard, according to Walsh (2015), “As older Americans seek to reverse these dismal trends and exert control over their health and well-being, they have contributed to a ‘wellness’ culture that has found its way into almost every corner of modern life” (p. 24).
Following a discussion concerning the Healthy People Initiative that focuses on the leading causes of death in the United States and some of the initiatives that have been implemented to address them, the authors provide a description of several behaviors that contribute to human wellness including those used for the Healthy People 2010 initiative. The healthy behaviors discussed by the authors are prioritized, beginning with the percentage of people in the United States that routinely engage in modern physical activities but also including healthier diet choices and moderation in drinking as well. The authors emphasize that the combination of poor dietary choices and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle have resulted in yet another epidemic, overweight and obesity, that is adversely affecting tens of millions of Americans.
A particularly striking point that emerged from the breakdown of healthy behaviors was their simplicity and commonsensicality. For instance, excepting only New Hampshire and the District of Columbia, all of the states in the United States have laws that mandate adults wearing seat belts (Seat belts overview, 2020), but, like wearing face masks during a global pandemic with an airborne pathogen, far too many Americans still refuse to wear them despite their proven ability to save lives. Similarly, it is common knowledge that poor diet choices and a sedentary lifestyle contribute to obesity, but many Americans continue to watch television while eating potato chips anyway.
There were also some factors that can affect wellness, and the authors provide another boxed entry that describes various wellness-related differences based on gender, race and ethnicity and even socioeconomic status. Taken in isolation, any of the unhealthy lifestyle behaviors or risk factors that are identified by the authors can cause health problems over time, but the harsh reality is that they can also interact in unknown and unexpected ways to adversely influence wellness. Following this discussion, the authors describe some steps that people can take to mitigate these elevated risks, but they underscore the need for ongoing commitment to remain motivated to reach individual wellness goals.
Yet another timely issue identified by the authors is the need for consumers to carefully evaluate the sources of their health information. During an unprecedented period in American history when the country’s chief executive claims that “fake news” is dominating the mainstream media, the need to carefully evaluate information sources has also assumed new importance and relevance today. To help people better evaluate the quality of the health information they receive, the authors provide several useful guidelines including most especially the need to remain skeptical and to consult the original source as well as additional sources before formulating a final opinion.
Because making healthier lifestyle choices almost invariably demands some type of individual changes, the authors also spend a significant amount of time discussing ways for people to get motivated and stay motivated to pursue health-related goals. Most of the tips that are provided by the authors can be boiled down to the simple guidance to “keep your eye on the prize” and develop a commitment to effect meaningful changes in lifestyle behaviors. One of the more valuable tips that are provided by the authors in this section is the need for college students to maintain a journal to identify facilitators and constraints to progress.
In addition, in a bow to their target audience, the authors also include a full page of information concerning the importance of the six dimensions of wellness for college students. In this section, the point is made that an alarming percentage (nearly one-third) of college students suffers from stress, more than a quarter have a cold, flu or sore throat and almost one –quarter have trouble sleeping. These findings are supported by a study from Holland and Wheeler (2016) that indicates college students suffer stress levels much higher than the general population. Each of these suboptimal outcomes can be attributed, in some part, to the lifestyle choices college students make each day but the authors emphasize that it is never too late to trade a healthy lifestyle for an unhealthy one.
On a strictly pragmatic note, the authors also concede that despite their commitment and diligence in maintaining a healthier lifestyle, people can and do make mistakes that may cause delays in their progress. The authors’ three-part advice to “forgive yourself,” “give yourself credit for the progress you have already made,” and “move on” can be applied to virtually any human enterprise, but these steps are especially critical when people are faced with these types of life-changing decisions. Fortunately, the authors also point out that practice in one sphere can help people become better at overcoming relapses in others. In addition, the authors note that many people fail to achieve their healthier lifestyle choices because they tend to rationalize their decisions to revert to previous behaviors, blame others for their failures or just put things off until it is too late.
Finally, the authors concede that just thinking about making changes may be as far as some readers get in their pursuit of healthier lifestyle choices, but every journey begins with one step. Apparently anticipating the reactions of many people who try and fail to improve their lifestyle behaviors, the authors also conclude this chapter by noting that remaining committed to change is imperative but people should also give themselves a break, pick up the pieces and try again if they stumble along the way. In other words, although many people make the decision to live a healthier life, few succeed on their first try.
Conclusion
In chapter one of Introduction to Wellness, Fitness, and Lifestyle Management, the authors provide a comprehensive background concerning the value and importance of wellness to people’s lives in every situation. The authors’ description and examples of the six dimensions of wellness provided a useful framework in which to better understand the inextricable interrelationship between the six dimensions in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In sum, the authors provide a thoughtful analysis concerning ways that people of all ages can make the changes in their lives that are needed to overcome unhealthy behaviors and replace them with healthy alternatives. In the final analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that some readers’ lives will be changed after reading this chapter, but the authors concede that these types of lifestyle changes are difficult and may require more than one attempt.

References
Hermon, D. A. & Davis, G. A. (2009, Spring). College student wellness: A comparison between traditional- and nontraditional-age students. Journal of College Counseling, 7(1), 32-36.
Holland, D. & Wheeler, H. (2016, Fall). College student stress and mental health: Examination of stigmatic views on mental health counseling. Michigan Sociological Review, 30, 16-21.
Introduction to wellness, fitness, and lifestyle management.
Seat belts overview (2020). Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Retrieved from https://www.iihs.org/topics/seat-belts.
Walsh, B. (2015, Spring). America's evolution toward wellness. Generations, 39(1), 23-26.