RUTH OLSON - Daily Herald | Posted: Monday, October 23, 2006 11:00 pm
BYU students' health isn't what it used to be, according to this year's college health rankings in the October Men's Fitness magazine, but BYU officials say they don't know why.
Despite ranking No. 1 on the magazine's list last year, Brigham Young University didn't even make the Top 25 on this year's fitness list. The research was conducted by The Princeton Review, surveying almost 12,500 students.
The rankings are based on student responses to questions about their diet and exercise habits and about the availability of fast food, nutritionists, and fitness trainers on campus, editor in chief Neal Boulton told the Associated Press.
Sample questions were, "How many fast-food meals (including pizza) do you eat per weekfi" and "Do you feel as though the campus community in general promotes vigorous physical activityfi"
"It's a commonsense study," Boulton said to the AP. "We take a look at the kinds of foods offered in college cafeterias. ... Is there information available to students to encourage good eating and nutrition, and perhaps fitness advicefi"
At the same time, the top schools offer a range of nutrition and exercise choices, rather than forcing students to adhere to a strict regimen, Boulton said to the AP.
Carri Jenkins, BYU spokeswoman, said she couldn't see any reason why BYU was dropped from the list. She said last year the school had ranked high because of its intramural and extramural sports, and she said nothing had changed from when the schools were ranked last year. And besides those programs, there are the university health classes.
"We do offer a wide variety of courses the students can be involved in, from ballroom dancing to tennis classes to golf classes," Jenkins said.
She said in general, though, students face difficulties with their physical fitness.
"Wherever you have students who are focusing on their studies, there sometimes aren't the opportunities to exercise, and our students need to look for those opportunities," she said. However, BYU is generally considered a fit school.
In the rankings, only six of the top 20 from last year remained on the list this year. And BYU wasn't the only one to find itself fallen from grace. California State University - Long Beach went from 20th most fit to the 'academic probation' list -- the schools that are doing so poorly that they brought down the grading curve.
Dickinson College in Pennsylvania was ranked top, with Colgate University in New York and Boston College as second and third.
The survey did not include military colleges in its rankings.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.