Health-related lifestyles and risk behaviours among students living in Alexandria University hostels

We assessed health - related lifestyles and their determinants among 600 Alexandria students living in university hostels. Data were collected by questionnaires, and anthropometric University and blood pressure measurements were taken. Most students were not satisfied with their situation in terms of accommodation, health and support. About 86% ate unhealthy diets, 33.8% were physically inactive, 25.3% were overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, 17.5% of male students were smokers and 32.2% had poor sleep behaviours. About 28% of the students adopted 3 or more current risk behaviours. About 23% reported low perceived health status and 80.3% felt they had low to moderate social support. There were significant sex differences regarding some behaviours

Self-efficacy for dietary behaviour concerning heart disease among Alexandria school pupils

A study of 1134 preparatory-school pupils was conducted to measure children's self-efficacy for selecting healthy food for the heart, to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and self-reported usual food consumption and to estimate test-retest reliability. Results revealed an acceptable estimate of internal consistency of dietary self-efficacy [Cronbach alpha = 0.76]. Over half the students exhibited a moderate level of self-efficacy and 42% a high level. Test-retest reliability of the scale was good [r = 0.65, Cronbach alpha = 0.79]. Usual food choice was the first best predictor of dietary self-efficacy [r = 0.44], followed by sex [boys had higher self-efficacy than girls] and then knowledge [r = 0.37].The three factors contributed to explain 25% of the variance