A Cal Poly-run study on college student health and fitness could be gone in a flash, before the study’s initial purpose has been fulfilled.
FLASH, which began researching the health habits of Cal Poly students in Fall 2009 with that year’s incoming freshmen, may not return to campus next year due to budgetary constraints. It is one of the largest studies in the country that focuses on college student health, and one of the only to use both surveys and physical assessments to gain data. The physical assessments are performed by students specially trained for the task.
Science through Translational Research in Diet and Exercise (STRIDE) coordinator Ann McDermott said it is still uncertain whether the study will resume in fall, though she hopes it will.
“I’m hoping that at least next spring we’ll have one, because I really want to follow that class of 2013,” McDermott said. “Next year, I pray that we can pull this together.”
The cost of organizing and implementing the study is approximately $75,000 annually, according to McDermott. That money goes toward paying leadership and data management employees, training the “A-Team” — a group of students who perform the physical assessments — managers, equipment needs and buying prizes or incentives for study participants. In past years, FLASH offered a year’s supply of books from El Corral Bookstore as a prize for participating in the study. Now, due to the budget problems, the prizes are mostly gift cards.
Some of the money needed to fund the study could come from a combination of the recently-passed Student Success Fee, as well as College Based Fees. Because the money is still up in the air, McDermott said STRIDE decided to include all students in the study (which previously only included freshmen and sophomores) this quarter to maximize results.
“If we had been going in sequence, we would’ve now folded in the class of 2015 and filed over, but because of how the decisions have to be made so far out … we were really unsure about the finances, about next year,” McDermott said. “So we said, ‘OK, we are already budgeted for this spring testing, and instead we’re going to bring in everyone.'”
As a result of this decision, the number of surveys and physical assessments performed has increased, McDermott said.
“The study kicked off April 1, and within 24 hours, we already had over 500 surveys completed, and another 250 partially completed,” McDermott said. “This is great.”
By April 5, the study reached the 1,000 mark for surveys taken, and 250 physical assessments had been performed.
The study’s success is partly attributable to psychology seniors Jackie Rainey and Courtney Buzdon, who are in charge of publicity for the program.
Rainey said she encouraged students to get tested, because of the importance of the study to gaining insight into college health.
“We need everyone to participate in this,” Rainey said. “It is about improving Cal Poly’s campus, and it’s reputation around the world. A lot of people don’t understand that when this study gets published, it will be ‘The Cal Poly Flash Study.’ It’s a big deal.”
Buzdon said the study was more important than some students realized.
“The only thing we have on college students’ health is the myth of the ‘Freshmen 15,'” Buzdon said. “We’ve tried to put a lot of effort into it, but it just comes down to Cal Poly students deciding to actually do it.”
Both Rainey and Buzdon said the possiblity of the program not continuing next quarter upset them, due to the amount of work they have put into it.
“It’s kind of sad because we’ve invested so much effort into this class, this project, and obviously with any research project, the more data you have, the more sound the results,” Rainey said. “These aren’t just going to be used internally, they’re going to be used nationwide. And it’s unfortunate that it’s not going to continue on.”
Even if FLASH is not active in the fall, STRIDE will continue to try to bring students the best information they can on health issues despite the loss, according to McDermott.
“We will always have a health ambassador, we will always have an assessment team,” she said. “We will continue to have that outreach arm. We just have to figure out if we can continue to support 2,000 hours of labor in the spring and in the fall.”
Students can participate in FLASH by filling out an online survey or visiting one of three offices in the Kinesiology building, Engineering building or Recreation Center.