ABSTRACT
Purpose This study aimed to explore the health behaviors and identify its related factors in international university students in Japan.Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used, targeting 274 international students enrolled at one Japanese university. It included demographic information on financial status, social support, behaviors toward health promotion and healthcare seeking, and health literacy (HLS-EU-Q16). Those who consulted a doctor or had such intentions for diseases or injury were defined as a group characterized by healthcare seeking action. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis.Results Of the 274 students, 70 (25.5%) responded to the questionnaires. Almost half of them were Chinese (44.3%), had been staying in Japan for more than a year but less than five years (54.3%) and had concerns about financial issues (50.0%). With reference to the number of Japanese friends they could consult, 44.3% had fewer than five. The latter was significantly associated with health promoting behaviors (p = 0.026). Further, duration of stay in Japan was significantly associated with health care seeking behaviors (p = 0.034). Financial status and health literacy were not significantly associated with either behavior.Conclusions Numbers of Japanese friends and duration of their stay may contribute to improve the health behaviors of international students in Japan. However, regardless of language ability, the health literacy of international students may not be utilized well enough in the host country. Providing more opportunities to international students to socialize with Japanese peers and to learn about Japanese health care systems earlier on their arrival could be highly beneficial to improve their health behaviors.
ABSTRACT
Purpose This study aimed to explore the health behaviors and identify its related factors in international university students in Japan.Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used, targeting 274 international students enrolled at one Japanese university. It included demographic information on financial status, social support, behaviors toward health promotion and healthcare seeking, and health literacy (HLS-EU-Q16). Those who consulted a doctor or had such intentions for diseases or injury were defined as a group characterized by healthcare seeking action. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis.Results Of the 274 students, 70 (25.5%) responded to the questionnaires. Almost half of them were Chinese (44.3%), had been staying in Japan for more than a year but less than five years (54.3%) and had concerns about financial issues (50.0%). With reference to the number of Japanese friends they could consult, 44.3% had fewer than five. The latter was significantly associated with health promoting behaviors (p = 0.026). Further, duration of stay in Japan was significantly associated with health care seeking behaviors (p = 0.034). Financial status and health literacy were not significantly associated with either behavior.Conclusions Numbers of Japanese friends and duration of their stay may contribute to improve the health behaviors of international students in Japan. However, regardless of language ability, the health literacy of international students may not be utilized well enough in the host country. Providing more opportunities to international students to socialize with Japanese peers and to learn about Japanese health care systems earlier on their arrival could be highly beneficial to improve their health behaviors.
ABSTRACT
<b>Objective</b><BR>To identify the lifestyles of upper grade primary school students in urban and rural areas of Vanuatu<BR><b>Methods</b><BR> All 415 students (urban, 194; and rural, 221) from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students of primary school from one in the urban area and three in the rural area of Vanuatu participated in this survey. We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey that included items addressing food consumption, exercise, smoking and drinking experience, health knowledge, attitudes toward health practices, guardians’ parenting attitudes related to health, prevalence of family employment, and number of household possessions. Urban and rural areas were compared on each item by performing chi-square tests for categorical data and Mann-Whitney U tests for ordinal data. Analysis was conducted manually and subsequently checked using SPSS version 18 for Windows. The significance level was set at p < .05.<BR><b>Results</b><BR> A response rate of 100% was obtained from a total target sample students. All responses were valid. Comparisons between urban and rural areas revealed that consumption frequencies of rice, bread, fresh meat, soft drinks, and sweets were higher in urban areas, while root crops, fresh fish, and fruits were consumed more frequently in rural areas. The percentage of students who had ever tried alcohol was significantly higher in urban areas than in rural areas, as were levels of health knowledge related to noncommunicable diseases, favorable health attitudes, the availability of health advice from guardians, the number of family members employed, and the number of household possessions.<BR><b>Conclusion</b><BR> The results indicated that significant differences exist between urban and rural areas for frequency of food consumption, drinking experience, health knowledge, attitudes toward health practices, guardians’ parenting attitudes related to health, the prevalence of family employment, and household possessions.