Self-Regulation of Physical Education Teacher Education Students' Attitudes Towards Exercise and Diet

The purpose of this study was to assess differences in self-regulation of attitudes towards engaging in exercise and eating a healthy diet between physical education teacher education (PETE) students and general education (GE) students, and between male students and female students. Participants were university students (n = 194) at a university in the Intermountain West in the U.S. Results showed that PETE students were more autonomous in their attitudes towards exercise than other students, all female students were more controlled in their attitudes towards diet than males, and PETE females’ attitudes towards diet were more controlled than PETE males. PETE curricula should include experiences to help students internalize exercise and healthy diet values so they will develop attitudes towards engaging in exercise and eating a healthy diet for autonomous reasons.