ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
From Habits to Harm: The Effects of Lifestyle, Sleep, and Fitness on Injury Risk in Students Using a Structural Equation Modeling Approach
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sveuciliste u Zagrebu Kinezioloski fakultet, Zagreb, Croatia
- 2Institute of Economics Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- 3Masarykova univerzita Fakulta sportovnich studii, Brno, Czechia
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This study investigates the interrelationships among lifestyle habits, sports activity, sleep quality, physical fitness, and injury occurrence in a student population using a structural equation model. Data were obtained via a cross-sectional survey, and the PLS-SEM method was used to estimate the model. Results indicate that unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking, alcohol, and energy drink consumption, were not significantly associated with physical fitness. In contrast, sports activity exhibited a strong, positive effect on fitness, while its interaction with poor lifestyle habits negatively affected fitness, suggesting that unhealthy behaviors may undermine the benefits of athletic participation. Poor lifestyle habits were also significantly associated with reduced sleep quality, which in turn positively influenced physical fitness, underscoring the restorative role of sleep in maintaining physical health. No significant relationship was found between physical fitness and injury incidence, but poor sleep quality was linked to a higher risk of injuries.
Keywords: Lifestyle habits, Physical Fitness, sleep quality, Sports activity, Injury occurrence
Received: 14 Jul 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kasović, Škrinjarić, Vespalec, Mojžíš and Knjaz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Bruno Škrinjarić, bskrinjaric@eizg.hr
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