ATTITUDE OF UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TOWARDS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND FITNESS EXERCISE IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined the attitude of university undergraduate students towards physical activity and fitness exercise. 180 students comprising of 98 male and 82 female participated in the study. Two research instruments were used to collect data from the participants namely Attitude Towards Physical Activity (ATPA) and Exercise Benefit-Barrier Scale (EBBS). Data were analyzed using independent t-test and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Testing three hypotheses, results showed that undergraduates who benefitted from fitness exercise will have positive attitude towards physical activity than those who do not benefit from it. It was also found that adolescent-aged students demonstrate favourable attitude towards physical activity like that of adult-aged students. Findings also revealed that there is no significant interaction effect of age and gender on physical activity. It was recommended that undergraduate students, irrespective of their age, gender, socioeconomic status, environment and level, should participate in physical activities and fitness exercises in order for them to be healthy and live a healthy life.