Abstract
The first year of college is pivotal for establishing lifelong health habits, yet many Mexican American students experience challenges during this transition. Using data from 285 first-year students at three Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Texas, we performed latent profile analysis (LPA) to explore groups of behavioral and physical health indicators. Four profiles were identified: (1) Moderate Risk Behavior—healthy body composition but high intake of alcohol and fast-food; (2) Multidimensional High Risk—poor sleep, high body fat, and high substance use; (3) Health-Optimal Active—active lifestyle, low-risk behaviors, and good sleep quality; and (4) Physically Inactive but Lean —low activity with lean body composition but irregular dietary habits. The Multidimensional High Risk and Moderate Risk Behavior profiles showed less favorable health patterns, whereas the Health-Optimal Active profile reported the most favorable health outcomes. Notably, psychological distress remained high even in “lean” groups without clinical weight risks. Findings call for subgroup-specific health interventions that prioritize behavioral patterns over a weight-based paradigm in this underserved population.
Keywords: Mexican American students, health behavior, latent profile analysis, self-rated health, psychological distress, first-year college students
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Kwon, Soyoung; Shen, Shannon; Chen, Jieming; Yoo, Soojin; Lim, Boram; and Lee, Sukho (2026) "From Fit to At-Risk: Latent Profiles of Health and Behavior Among First-Year Mexican American College Students," Health Behavior Research: Vol. 9: No. 1.
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