From Health to Environment: Exploring the Associations Among Health Status, Health-Related Lifestyle, and Campus Environment in Chinese Universities

Background/Objectives: College student health has become a global public health concern, with campus environments serving as critical resources for supporting healthy lifestyles. This study aimed to identify heterogeneous associations between health-related lifestyle parameters and health status among university students, as well as the relationships between these parameters and campus environmental factors. Methods: A two-stage analytical approach was applied to 909 student responses from five Chinese universities. Stage One employed hierarchical regression to identify lifestyle parameters significantly associated with health status. Stage Two used EFA-derived factors and LASSO robustness checks to examine campus environmental factors linked to these key parameters. Results: Six lifestyle parameters were significantly associated with student health: physical exercise frequency, physical exercise duration, active commuting frequency, nature contact frequency, healthy diet frequency, and self-rated health literacy. Each parameter exhibited distinct patterns of environmental association. Conclusions: These findings provide empirical evidence for redefining health-promoting campus design through targeted environmental interventions.