Professional Documents
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B o r s c R e p o r t
on the
National College Health Assessment
F a l l 2 0 1 0 F a l l 2 0 1 0
B o r s c R e p o r t B o r s c R e p o r t
on the on the
National College Health Assessment National College Health Assessment
Class Representatives
Joe Paille ’11 Tom Fewer ’11
Patrick Boland ’12 Rod Hubbard ’11
David Segar ’12 Megan Kaszuba ’12
Kari Swanson ’13 Tenzin Kunsal ’13
in good, very good, or excellent health (92.2 % of students are in this bracket
nationally).
Nevertheless, it is no surprise that health-related issues arise from
time to time over the course of the school year. Factors that are influential
enough to affect students’ academic performance are of primary concern to any
In the spring of 2010, St. Olaf students participated in the ACHA-National
collegiate institution. Issues most frequently reported by St. Olaf students as
College Health Assessment II (NCHA-II). This assessment is a national survey 4
having academic impacts include anxiety, cold/flu/sore throat, participation in
administered by the American College Health Association (ACHA) to assist college
extracurricular activities, sleep difficulties and stress. It is important to note that
health service providers, health educators, counselors, and administrators in
the correlation between these difficulties and affected academic performance
collecting data about their students’ habits, behaviors, and perceptions on the
reflects the national pattern. In fact, with the exception of participation in
most prevalent health topics.1
extracurricular activities, these factors were reported at even higher percentages in
A total of 741 St. Olaf students, 40.2% of the student body, responded to the
the national data.
survey. The average age of respondents was 20.02 years. Females made up the
When comparing St. Olaf data to the national data, it will be necessary
majority of respondents to the survey with 66.9%, while only 32.9%2 were males.
to keep in mind that administration of the NCHA-II was not strictly limited to
Respondents were distributed fairly evenly across class year. 92.0% of students
small liberal arts colleges, but rather reached out to various types of schools,
identified themselves as heterosexual, 2.4% as gay/lesbian, 3.4% as bisexual, and
from small to large and private to public. Thus, approximately 16% of national
2.2% identified as unsure. On another note, 36.2% of students said they were in
respondents were graduate or professional students, which could feasibly be
a relationship, a relatively small percentage compared to the national average of
reflected in responses to many of the survey items. In the sections that follow,
53.5%.3
it is our objective to illuminate some of the defining characteristics, habits, and
The general health of the St. Olaf student population is impressive when
tendencies of the current St. Olaf student body. Good or bad, straightforward or
compared to national data. 74.2% of St. Olaf students rated their health as either
complex, these are some of the issues our campus faces, both as individuals and as
very good or excellent while only 59.9% of national respondents placed themselves
a community.
in one of these categories. Moreover, 95.5% of St. Olaf students reported being
1 American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health
Assessment II: Saint Olaf College Executive Summary Spring 2010. Linthicum, MD: American College Health
Association; 2010.
2 Cases where sex was missing were included in the calculation of percentages for this variable. 4 Academic impact is defined as: received a lower grade on an exam, or an important project; received a lower
3 All national data has been taken from the ACHA-NCHA II Reference Group summary for 2009: American grade in the course; received an incomplete or dropped the course; or experienced a significant disruption in
College Health Association. American College Health Association-national College Health Assessment II: thesis, dissertation, research, or practicum work.
Reference Group Executive Summary Spring 2009. Linthicum, MD: American College Health Association; 2009.
Physical Activity
Exercise is another area where St. Olaf students seem to excel. In response
to the prompt do vigorous-intensity cardio or aerobic exercise for at least 20
minutes at least once per week, 72.5% of St. Olaf students answered yes as
opposed to 60.6% Nationwide. This difference is likely present because of the
5 A good deal of research has been dedicated to this very issue. Brian Borsari and Kate Carey describe the
situation well: “Many college students overestimate both the drinking behaviors (descriptive norms) and the
approval of drinking (injunctive norms) of their peers. As a result, consistent self-other discrepancies (SODs)
have been observed, in which self-perceptions of drinking behaviors and approval of drinking are usually lower
than comparable judgments of others.” (Borsari, B. and K. Carey (2003). “Descriptive and Injunctive Norms in
College Drinking: A Meta-Analytic Integration.” J Stud Alcohol 64(3): 331-341.)
6 The most recent Clery Act Report can be found on St. Olaf’s website at http://www.stolaf.edu/stulife/safety/
reports/cleryact.html.