Comparing Health Status and Lifestyle in Chinese College Students

The study aimed to compare health status and lifestyle in university students. The participants were college freshmen from physical education majors (N = 195, Mean = 20.9, SD = 1.87) and the school of Urban and Environmental majors (N = 195, Mean = 21.73, SD = 0.93) in Dalian, China. The Diagnostic Inventory of Health and Life habit (DIHAL.2) scale (Tokunaga, 2003) was administered to all participants. A one-way sample t-test was used to analyze the difference in both interdepartmental and gender effects. Results of t-test indicated that there were significantly difference in physical health, social health and life habit. Moreover, students majoring in physical education were scored lower on the mental health domain compared to the physical and social health domains. The practical implication of this study focused on finding the difference between the students who regularly exercised and those who did not, and considered the characteristics of gender. Finally, we hope that this study would be available for physical education in university.