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Objective: Colleges should aim to cultivate healthy behaviors among students by addressing alterations in wellness students view as important. The purpose of this study was to determine the self-perceived wellness-related concerns and behaviors of college students. Participants: Thirty-seven undergraduate students participated in this study between January and March 2017. Methods: Focus groups served as a data collection method. Groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Directed and conventional approaches to data analyses were employed. Results: Participants expressed concern regarding four campus wellness topics: nutrition, economics, mental health, and campus safety. Participants offered solutions for improving campus wellness, representing a fifth theme. Conclusions: Health concerns for college students and realistic solutions to address concerns were identified across focus groups. Overall, students cared about their own health, as well as the well-being of other students. Future directions include conducting a Web-based survey among students to assess prevalence and impact of select health and wellness topics.

Extensive use of social media is well-documented as being associated with poor mental health in college students. Evidence of its association with perceived stress in this population is inconclusive. To examine the association between daily time spent on social media and perceived stress among U.S. college students. Participants were 412 students (274 females, 138 males) from the Get your Fruits and Vegetables (GetFRUVED) project in a northeastern U.S. college. Students completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) questionnaire and reported daily minutes spent on social media. Linear regression was used to examine the association between social media use and self-reported stress. Female college students who used social media for >2 h per day reported higher stress levels than students who used social media for only 0–20 min daily. Our findings demonstrate an association between prolonged use of social media and higher stress levels among female college students. The impact of excessive social media on the stress response and psychological wellbeing should be further investigated in this population. Campus efforts toward educating college students on the positive correlation between social media use and stress are warranted, with priority given to female students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The link between poor diet and poor health is well-known. Nevertheless, 90% of Americans are not meeting current dietary guidelines, avoiding nutrient dense foods like vegetables, and opting for highcalorie foods. One of the reasons for this behavior is that healthy options are often considered less enjoyable, compared with less healthy options. Addressing this issue, the current work tests the effectiveness of a novel approach to encourage consumption of healthier options. We explore the effectiveness of using figurative language (e.g., rhyme, metaphor) in naming food items on preference for these items. Research shows that figurative language induces pleasure and perceived enjoyment. Relying on this research, we propose that naming food figuratively will increase anticipated enjoyment with that food, as well as preference for that food. We tested this prediction in a large-scale field experiment at a university dining hall. We found that giving vegetable dishes figurative names (Tree of Life) significantly increased preference for those dishes, compared with literal names (Steamed Broccoli). A follow-up online experiment provided additional evidence in support of this assertion, demonstrating a preference for lowcalorie menu options when they were named figuratively, and higher anticipated enjoyment with these options. The findings support the use of figurative language in naming healthy food dishes to influence food choice. The results also provide a psychological explanation for the effectiveness of figurative language in health communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Historically, osteoporosis has not been considered a public health priority for the Hispanic population. However, recent data indicate that Mexican Americans are at increased risk for this chronic condition. Although it is well established that there is heterogeneity in social, lifestyle, and health‐related factors among Hispanic subgroups, there are currently few studies on bone health among Hispanic subgroups other than Mexican Americans. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of osteoporosis and low bone mass (LBM) among 953 Puerto Rican adults, aged 47 to 79 years and living on the US mainland, using data from one of the largest cohorts on bone health in this population: The Boston Puerto Rican Osteoporosis Study (BPROS). Participants completed an interview to assess demographic and lifestyle characteristics and bone mineral density measures. To facilitate comparisons with national data, we calculated age‐adjusted estimates for osteoporosis and LBM for Mexican American, non‐Hispanic white, and non‐Hispanic black adults, aged ≥50 years, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The overall prevalence of osteoporosis and LBM were 10.5% and 43.3% for participants in the BPROS, respectively. For men, the highest prevalence of osteoporosis was among those aged 50 to 59 years (11%) and lowest for men ≥70 years (3.7%). The age‐adjusted prevalence of osteoporosis for Puerto Rican men was 8.6%, compared with 2.3% for non‐Hispanic white, and 3.9% for Mexican American men. There were no statistically significant differences between age‐adjusted estimates for Puerto Rican women (10.7%), non‐Hispanic white women (10.1%), or Mexican American women (16%). There is a need to understand specific factors contributing to osteoporosis in Puerto Rican adults, particularly younger men. This will provide important information to guide the development of culturally and linguistically tailored interventions to improve bone health in this understudied and high‐risk population. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]