Lever hälsopedagogstudenter som de lär? : En kvalitativ studie för att öka förståelsen kring hälsopedagogstudenters uppfattning om stillasittande

Sammanfattning: Abstract Aim The aim of this study was to get an increased understanding of health education students general perception and their own experience of long-term sedentary behavior.    Issues: How do health education students think of long-term sedentary behavior in everyday life? Do they think about taking short breaks during long lasting sedentary sessions? For how long do the students estimate they are sedentary?   Method By a qualitative method, six interviews were conducted with students at the health education program at the Swedish school of sport and health sciences, in Stockholm. The interviews were semi-structured, and the interviews were recorded and transcribed. Based on a phenomenological approach, the data was analyzed.    Results The students’ experience that sedentary behavior occurs in a large extent, people generally sit too much. The students believe that they themselves sit less than the average population. It also emerged that the students had become more aware of their own sedentary behavior, and therefore thinking about breaking their own sedentary behavior. Finally they estimated that they spend 6,5 hours a day sedentary.    Conclusions The education and knowledge acquired by the students influence their behavior. Increased knowledge can thus be assumed to influence behavior, even though the students in this study did not verbally expresse this. Further research is necessary to determine whether knowledge is sufficient to influence behavior, or if there other methods better suited.    Furthermore the students’ knowledge has generated a picture of sedentary behavior as a problem in the society. They feel that sedentary behavior occurs in a large extent and it needs to be reduced.    Keywords: sedentary, students, GIH, knowledge, behavior, health education, conscious