What findings emerged from the 2018 student survey of the BeTaBalance project? Why are we interested in the health of students? Why is physical activity in particular attributed an increasingly important role in this context? And how can this be used as a health resource in studies?

Under the heading "Physical activity, health and study ability: sporting leisure activities and active transportation as a resource in studies?", Monika Teuber, Ingrid Arzberger and Prof. Dr. Gorden Sudeck have investigated the question of the extent to which study ability is related to health burdens and physical activities. In this way, they supplement the findings among students that physical and sporting activity have positive associations with health status with further associations with the ability to function during studies and, consequently, the successful organization of studies. For this purpose, the extent of sporting activities in leisure time (total sporting activities as well as muscle strengthening) and in transportation (walking and cycling) as well as the consideration of minimum recommendations for both health-promoting endurance and muscle strengthening activities were considered. Here, higher study ability was found among students who met the recommendations for endurance-based physical activity, as opposed to students who did not. In addition, positive associations of the study ability with recreational sports activities and getting around by bicycle were shown.

In moderation analytic models, the influence of discomfort on study ability was found to be relatively dominant. Nevertheless, a moderating influence on the relationships between perceived discomfort and study ability was found for both sports activities and muscle strengthening. In this regard, increasing volumes of activity in these domains buffered the magnitude of the negative relationship between discomfort and study ability. Since these two forms of exercise are primarily structured sports activities, this suggests the importance of the intentional nature of sports behavior as a coping and recovery activity. In addition, muscle strengthening is attributed only indirect importance in influencing functioning in study. In total, physical activity behavior was able to explain about 5% of the variance in study ability - quite a substantial proportion, but one that must of course also be appropriately classified as one component of many for a successful design of studies in a multifactorial network of conditions for study success.

Such empirical findings, which show a link between health, health behavior and parameters of academic success, are of great importance for universities. Physical activity promotion measures in student health management, such as those offered by the BeTaBalance 2.0 project at the University of Tübingen, can thus be justified not only by the health benefits of physical activity, but also by relationships to successful study design. The periode of study seems to be predestined for the promotion of physical activity, since the scope for independent and responsible action is increased for students. The consistent connection of promotion of physical activity with academic arguments could reach here above all those students, who with pronounced lack of physical activity and health stresses have not yet discovered "physical-sporty activity" as a resource of their study ability. Above all, the project BeTaBalance 2.0 wants to offer them measures of student health promotion.

Teuber, M., Arzberger, I. & Sudeck, G. (2020). Körperliche Aktivität, Gesundheit und Funktionsfähigkeit im Studium: Sportliche Freizeitaktivitäten und aktive Fortbewegung als Ressource im Studium? In J. Mayer, A. Göring & M. Jetzke (Hrsg.), Sport und Studienerfolg. Analysen zur Bedeutung sportlicher Aktivität im Setting Hochschule (Hochschulsport: Bildung und Wissenschaft, Band 4). Göttingen: Universitätsverlag. doi: https://doi.org/10.17875/gup2020-1337

Abstract: University students are particularly at risk to suffer from physical and psychological complaints and for not fulfilling health-oriented physical activity (PA) recommendations. Since PA is linked with various benefits for health and educational outcomes, the group of students is of particular interest for PA promotion. Although active commuting has been identified as a relevant domain of PA in order to gain the various benefits of PA, little knowledge is available with respect to university students. This study tested conditions in the study environment, as well as personal motivators and barriers, as determinants for the active transportation of university students. Using a cross-sectional convenience sample of a university in the southwest of Germany (n = 997), we applied factor analyses to bundle relevant information on environmental and psychological determinants (adapted NEWS-G; adapted transport-related items from an Australian university survey) and blockwise hierarchical regressions. The objective was to analyze associations between the bundled determinants and self-reports on PA for transport-related walking and cycling (measured by the EHIS-PAQ). Results revealed associations between transport-related cycling and the perceived study environment (e.g., high automobile traffic) as well as certain personal motivators and barriers (e.g., time effort or weather conditions). The study contributes to the knowledge about determinants that are important for the development and improvement of public health interventions for students in a university setting.

Teuber, M. & Sudeck, G. (2021). Why Do Students Walk or Cycle for Transportation? Perceived Study Environment and Psychological Determinants as Predictors of Active Transportation by University Students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Special Issue Active Commuting and Active Transportation), 18(4). doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041390