Impact of Health and Wellness Programs on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being among College Students

Abstract

Background: College students face significant physical and mental health challenges due to academic stress, sedentary lifestyles, and poor health behaviors. Health and wellness programs have emerged as potential interventions, yet rigorous evidence from higher education settings—particularly from blinded, attention-controlled trials—remain limited.

Objective: This study examined the impact of a structured 12-week health and wellness program on physical fitness and mental well-being among college students relative to an attention-matched control condition.

Methods: A two-arm, parallel-group, assessor-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted with 240 college students (mean age = 21.5 ± 2.2 years) assigned to either an intervention group (n = 120) or an active control group (n = 120). To mitigate self-selection bias, recruitment employed multiple mandatory channels (academic advisor referrals, residence hall postings, and freshman seminar announcements) rather than relying solely on voluntary response. The intervention integrated physical activity, mindfulness, nutritional education, and sleep hygiene. The control group received biweekly attention-matched health education sessions (equivalent duration and group size) covering general college topics unrelated to fitness or mental health, plus standard recreation center access. Physical fitness was assessed by blinded research assistants using cardiorespiratory fitness (estimated VO₂max), muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Mental well-being was measured using validated scales for perceived stress, anxiety, depression, psychological well-being, sleep quality, and self-esteem. To control family-wise error across 12 primary outcomes, the Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction was applied. Effect sizes were calculated using Cohen’s d. Exploratory Pearson’s correlations examined associations between physical fitness and mental well-being changes.

Results: The intervention group demonstrated significant improvements in all physical fitness parameters after FDR correction (q < 0.001), including increases in VO₂max (+5.3 vs. +0.5 ml/kg/min), muscular strength (+4.6 vs. +0.3 kg), and flexibility (+5.8 vs. +0.5 cm), alongside reductions in BMI (−1.2 vs. +0.2 kg/m²) and body fat percentage (−3.3 vs. −0.3%). Mental well-being outcomes showed significant improvements, with reductions in perceived stress (−6.3 vs. −0.8), anxiety (−4.6 vs. −0.5), and depression (−5.4 vs. −0.8), and increases in psychological well-being (+10.5 vs. +1.2), sleep quality improvement (−3.5 vs. −0.5 on PSQI), and self-esteem (+5.3 vs. +0.4). All between-group differences remained significant after FDR correction (q < 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed no significant sex-by-group interactions (p > 0.05). Exploratory correlations between fitness gains and mental health improvements were consistent with, but do not establish, shared mechanistic pathways.

Conclusion: A structured, multi-component health and wellness program significantly improves both physical fitness and mental well-being among college students relative to an attention-matched control. Universities should consider integrating comprehensive wellness initiatives into student support services, though dismantling studies are needed to isolate active components and longer-term follow-up is required to confirm maintenance of benefits.