Level of Health Awareness and its Relationship to Physical Activity among Students of Physical Education Colleges

This study aims to examine the levels of health awareness across its six dimensions (personal, nutritional, physical, postural, environmental, and preventative) and to determine its correlational and predictive relationship to physical activity among university students. The study employed a descriptive, correlational, predictive approach with a cross -sectional design. Design) Adhering to STROBE guidelines for the preparation and reporting of observational studies, on a stratified random sample of 220 male and female students (137 males, representing 62.3%, and 83 females, representing 37.7%) distributed across the four academic levels. The developed Health Awareness Scale (42 items) and the Physical Activity Practice Scale (10 items) were administered, and both scales showed high internal consistency (α = 0.91 and α = 0.88, respectively). The results showed that the overall level of health awareness was high (m = 3.59, p = 0.48), as was the level of physical activity (m = 3.72, p = 0.65). Pearson's correlation matrix revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between the overall health awareness score and physical activity (r = 0.49, p < 0.01). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis yielded a final model that explained 43.1% of the variance in physical activity (R² = 0.431, adjusted R² = 0.414, F(8, 211) = 20.38, p < 0.001). Sports awareness was the strongest predictor (β = 0.37, p < 0.001), followed by postural awareness (β = 0.19, p = 0.003), and then personal awareness (β = 0.14, p = 0.033). Nutritional, environmental, and preventative awareness dimensions did not contribute directly and significantly to predicting physical behavior, revealing a clear cognitive-behavioral gap in these three dimensions. The study concludes that health awareness is a multidimensional construct, not a single variable, and recommends restructuring university health education programs to shift from theoretical knowledge transfer to training in applied behavioral skills. Skills Training), with a particular focus on promoting athletic and postural awareness as the two most influential levers in converting knowledge into actual practice.