This study was conducted to learn the various life styles and subjective views regarding health of female athletic college students by investigating the duration of exercise, keeping regular hours in rising and going to bed, dietary habits and degree of stresses. Subjects were 324 second-year female students of athletic college (A) and 84 second-year female students of non-athletic college (NA). Students of A were divided into two groups; those belonging to sport club at college (Group I) and non-members (Group II). Students of NA served as the control group (Group III). The results are summarized below.
1) Groups I and II were higher in height, bodyweight and BMI compared to Group III, and the resting heart rate was lower. The time of rising was the latest and the average sleep hours the longest for Group I. There were no significant differences amongthree groups in keeping regular hours of rising and going to bed, and 65% of subjects kept irregular hours.
2) There were clearly observed differences among groups regarding breakfast, between meal snacks and supper. Compared to Group III, Groups I and II skipped meals more often and their daily intake of “green and yellow vegetables”, “other vegetables and fruits”, “legume and soybean products” was lower.
3) The dietary scores of Groups I and II were significantly lower than Group III.
4) Group I contained the greatest number of those living alone, followed by Groups II and III. Compared to those living with family, they had lower dietary scores and kept more irregular hours of rising and going to bed.
5) Good health showed high correlation between regular hours of rising and going to bed, good dietary habits and lower degree of stresses.
These results suggest that it is essential for female athletes to establish regular life habits and review their dietary habits in order to maintain their healthiness and achieve high performance in sports.
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