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Resiliency: Exercise, Nutrition, and Physical Health

This guide provides resources about exercising and physical health's effect on mental health.

Navigating this LibGuide

Please see below for instructions on how to navigate this guide:

  • To the left, you will find your main menu, which includes three sections: ProQuest Materials / NC Live Materials / Additional Resources
  • You will find many materials about each topic on their subject page. Each item will have a link that will take you to NC Live or ProQuest.
  • To access the ProQuest Materials, you can either:
    • Type in the e-ISBN in the search bar on your university library's webpage OR
    • Click the title to follow the link directly to the ProQuest Webpage for this item. Use your university single sign on credentials to access the materials.
  • To access Additional Resources:
    • Click on the title/name of the item to load it
  • To Access the NC Live Materials:
    • Go directly to the NC Live website and enter the information on the search bar OR
    • Click the title to follow the link directly to the NC Live Webpage for this item. NC Live will ask you the name of your institution through a drop-down menu. Scroll through the menu until you locate the name of your library. Select the name of your library to to log into NC Live. 

Definitions

Exercise is defined as, "a subset pf physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and has a final or intermediate objective the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness." (Caspersen, C. J., Powell, K. E., & Christenson, G. M., 1985).

Physical fitness is defined as, "a set of attributes that are either health- or sill-related." (Caspersen, C. J., Powell, K. E., & Christenson, G. M., 1985).

Physical health is defined as, "a state of well-being when all internal and external body parts, organs, tissues, and cells can function properly as they are supposed to." (Leist, 2021)

Nutrition is defined as, "the taking in and use of food and other nourishing material by the body." (National Cancer Institute, 2024). Nutrition can be broken down into three parts:

  1. consuming food or drink
  2. the body breaking down the consumed food or drinks into nutrients
  3. the nutrients travel through the bloodstream to different parts of the body where they are used as fuel and for many other purposes

C.J. Capersen, K.E. Powell, & G.M. Christenson. (1985). Physical activity, exercise, and physical fitness: definitions and distinctions for health-related research. Public Health Rep., 100(2), 126-131. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3920711/#:~:text=Exercise%20is%20a%20subset%20of,health%2D%20or%20skill%2Drelated.

Leist, S. (2021). Health & wellness: Physical health. Virginia Wesleyan University. https://guides.vwu.edu/c.php?g=20994&p=122669#:~:text=Physical%20health%20can%20be%20defined,they%20are%20supposed%20to%20function.

National Cancer Institute. (2024). Nutrition. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/nutrition

Looking for more information on your campus?

Use the following search terms when searching:

  • fitness AND college students
  • workout plans
  • nutrition AND college students
  • physical activities AND mental health
  • exercise plan AND mental health