The study investigated the rate of exercise participation and blood pressure at rest among undergraduate students of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Five objectives, five research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. A quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised of all undergraduate students of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, the postgraduate students were excluded from the study. The instrument for data collection was a self-developed with a reliability coefficient of 0.71. Data was analysed on SPSS using frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The findings of the study showed the rate of exercise participation among the students is 68.0%. The mean systolic blood pressure was 126.28mmHg and 118.53mmHg among the male and female students respectively. The mean diastolic blood pressure was 84.50mmHg and 83.02mmHg among male and female students respectively. The tested hypotheses revealed exercise was significant and negatively correlated systolic (r= -0.311; p= 0.000) and diastolic (r= -0.312; p= 0.000) blood pressures. The following recommendations were made; parents and guardians should encourage their wards to increase their activity level while maintaining their academic pursuits to improve their physical fitness and overall wellbeing; furthermore, University authorities should develop and strengthen structured physical activity and recreational programs aimed at increasing student participation in regular exercise through organized sports, fitness classes, and campus wellness initiatives.
Kpai et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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