Differences in physical activity behaviors between university women from metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas.

Rural and emerging adult women report low physical activity (PA) levels. This study identified differences in current self-reported PA levels and perceived resources among US university women from metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas. Women were ages 18-24 y, full-time students who attended in-person university classes before COVID-19. They completed an online cross-sectional survey between July-September 2020 collecting demographic, university PA ( IPAQ), and perceived PA resource data. Most participants reported metropolitan area high school (70.4%) and university (92.3%) attendance. Metropolitan participants did less job-related moderate PA during university (0.0 (0.0-360.0) MET-min) than rural (160.0 (0.0-1320.0) MET-min) participants. Metropolitan and micropolitan participants identified more high school community and natural resources than rural participants. Rural participants identified more university campus and community resources than metropolitan participants. University women reported similar levels of PA regardless of the rurality of their high school community.