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  • Making Health Happen on Campus:A Review of a Required General Education Health Course
  • Craig M. Becker (bio), Hans Johnson (bio), Karen Vail-Smith (bio), Cathy Maahs-Fladung (bio), Debra Tavasso (bio), Barry Elmore (bio), and Charla Blumell (bio)

Revisions of general education curricula have been ongoing as universities strive to meet the general education goal of helping students succeed (Glynn, Aultman, & Owens, 2005). The importance of health status with regard to the future health potential of college students and the impact the college years have on their health has been highlighted in the American College Health Association–Healthy Campus 2010 document (2004). Research has demonstrated the relationship between student health and academic performance (Pritchard & Wilson, 2003). Findings highlight the negative effects that substance abuse, emotional issues, and risky sexual behaviors have on academic performance (Marlatt & Witkiewitz, 2002; Pritchard & Wilson, 2003; Riley, Durbin, & D'Ariano, 2005; Von Ah, Ebert, Ngamvitroj, Parj, & Kang, 2004). With this understanding, the required status of a personal health course in a college general education curriculum should be self-evident, yet its required status continues to be an issue of contention. This article reviews the need for a college-level personal health course, explains why colleges provide an effective place to teach a general education health course, and provides the evaluation results of a personal health course delivered to four thousand students per year. [End Page 67]

Health Status

Seventy-one percent of deaths in the ten- to twenty-four-year-old age group result from automobile crashes, unintentional injuries, homicide, or suicide (Eaton & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). Results from the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System indicate that 9.9 percent of high school students had driven a motor vehicle while drinking alcohol. This number more than doubles in college, and researchers estimate that the percentage of college students who drove a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol increased from 26.5 percent in 1998 to 31.4 percent in 2001 (Hingson, Heeren, Winter, & Wechsler, 2005).

College years are the time when many begin to form lifestyle behavior patterns that strongly influence adult behaviors (Pearman & Valois, 1997). Reports also indicate college to be a time when students explore and experiment with high-risk sexual behaviors (Brener & Gowda, 2001; Clemmens, Engler, & Chinn, 2004). The 1995 National College Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that only 29.6 percent of the 62.4 percent of college students having sexual intercourse used a condom during their last sexual encounter. This study also reported that 16.6 percent of college students had drunk alcohol or used drugs at their last sexual encounter, a handicapping factor in a student's ability to make healthy sexual choices (CDC, 1997). These behaviors may explain why almost half of the approximately 19 million new STD infections in the United States each year occur in fifteen to twenty-four year olds. The overrepresentation of college-age students is dramatic because this age group makes up only 25 percent of sexually active individuals (Weinstock, Berman, & Cates, 2004). The fact that many high schools do not provide comprehensive sexual education is another contributing factor to sexual health issues in college (Starkman & Rajani, 2002). In other words, many students come to college without adequate knowledge to make healthier choices regarding sexual health.

Additional findings document college students' engagement in other risk behaviors. For instance, 34.5 percent of college students had five or more drinks of alcohol on at least one occasion. Additionally, more than one-third (35.1 percent) of college students were in a car with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, and 30.5 percent of the respondents reported they had been drinking when boating or swimming (CDC, 1997).

With our increased understanding of health issues and increased public awareness, one would think health behaviors would have improved. But even though we know that condoms are protective, the American College Health [End Page 68] Association assessment indicates that fewer students used condoms for protection in 2005 than did in 2000 (17 versus 22 percent). Additionally, with regard to mental health, more...

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