Behavior medicine specialist

Study Protocol of "Sustainably Healthy-From Science 2 Highschool & University"-Prevalence of Mixed, Vegetarian, and Vegan Diets Linked to Sports & Exercise among Austrian Tertiary Students and Lecturers/Academic Staff

Healthy lifestyle is the major indicator of individual and public health especially in target populations (e.g., during emerging adulthood). Evidence indicates that unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are strongly associated with the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. The dual approach of sustainable health (i.e., physical exercise tied to a healthy diet) is an effective lifestyle strategy to control and manage health-related disorders, including overweight/obesity. Based on the evidence on plant-based diets regarding health and considering the growing prevalence of vegans and vegetarians worldwide, limited data exist on the health-related behaviors of those who follow plant-based vs. mixed diets in young adulthood. This multidisciplinary study is the first to examine the association between diet type (mixed, vegetarian, and vegan diets) and various health-related behaviors (primarily physical activity, sport, & exercise) among college/university students and lecturers/academic staff in Austria nationwide. Following a cross-sectional study design and using online questionnaires, 4510 tertiary students and 1043 lecturers/academic staff provided data on sociodemographic characteristics, dietary patterns, physical exercise habits, and other lifestyle behaviors (sleep, alcohol intake, smoking, etc.) along with information on health status and quality of life. While the data will be analyzed based on differentiated sociodemographic and health-related categories, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle behaviors will also be evaluated. As a study protocol, this article represents comprehensive details of the design, purposes, and associated analytical measures of the present study within the tertiary educational context.

Strategies to Increase Physical Activity

The benefits of physical activity are well known and well publicized. Healthy People 2020 has determined that physical activity is one of their key interventions to improve health in America. Despite wide acceptance that physical activity is a low-cost alternative to disease treatment and prevention, most Americans still do not exercise the recommended minimum of 150 minutes per week. Underpinning such recommendations is the growing concern that unless we change our behavior around active living, health care costs to treat preventable disease will become unsustainable and have a substantial impact on the financial health of the US. For this reason, physicians, health care executives, and community leaders are working together to improve total health for all Americans. One key intervention to prevent preventable diseases and to make health care more affordable is to increase the percentage of Americans who are physically active. No single intervention will increase activity rates, but a group of interventions working together in synergy may be the stimulus needed to get Americans moving. The five strategies discussed in this paper include 1) measure physical activity as a vital sign; 2) encourage patients to be physically active at least 150 minutes per week; 3) create healthy environments by making it easier for patients to be physically active where they live, learn, work, play, and pray; 4) monitor disease incidence of patients who are physically active vs those who are not physically active; and 5) spread best practices.