Lifestyle Risk Factors and Health Indicators in Students at a Bavarian University: A Cross-Sectional Study of Physical Activity, Diet, Stress, Sleep Quality, and Body Mass Index
Main Article Content
Keywords
student health, stress, sleep, physical activity, diet
Abstract
This study aimed to assess the frequency of selected lifestyle risk factors and health indicators among university students, and to examine their interrelationships and variation according to demographic and academic characteristics.
A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey among students (n = 106) at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT), a higher education institution in Bavaria, Germany. Sleep quality/insomnia and increased BMI were assessed as health indicators, while stress, physical activity, and diet were evaluated as lifestyle risk factors. Information on demographic and academic characteristics was also collected. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the study variables. Differences in categorical outcomes across levels of continuous predictors were assessed using Student’s t-test or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), while differences according to categorical predictors were evaluated using the Chi-square test. Associations between continuous variables were examined using Pearson correlation coefficients. Logistic regression models were used to explore potential predictors of insomnia and increased BMI after adjusting for relevant covariates.
Insufficient physical activity was the most common lifestyle risk factor among students (47.9%), followed by high stress (25.5%) and poor diet (16.7%). Regarding the selected health indicators, 45.3% of students were classified as overweight or obese and 26.9% had probable insomnia. Among complete cases, 42.6% presented none of the selected health indicators, 31.9% had increased BMI only, 12.8% had probable insomnia only, and 12.8% presented both increased BMI and probable insomnia. When examining correlations among lifestyle risk factors, only diet quality showed a significant inverse correlation with physical activity (r = −0.289, p = 0.005). Among the lifestyle risk factors, stress showed a borderline correlation with sleep quality (r = −0.189, p = 0.057). Overall, high stress (OR = 6.57, 95% CI: 1.55–27.82) and male gender (OR = 4.77, 95% CI: 1.23–18.55) were significant predictors of insomnia. No significant predictors of increased BMI were identified, although male gender showed a borderline association (OR = 2.6, 95% CI: 0.95–6.9, p = 0.063).
Lifestyle risk factors and health indicators such as insomnia and increased BMI were common among students, highlighting the need for targeted health promotion strategies. As an exploratory study, these findings identify trends that warrant further investigation.
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Lifestyle Risk Factors and Health Indicators in Students at a Bavarian University: A Cross-Sectional Study of Physical Activity, Diet, Stress, Sleep Quality, and Body Mass Index. (2026). Journal of Applied Interdisciplinary Research, 3(1), 6-36. https://doi.org/10.25929/m0waw720