Relationship between Healthy Lifestyle and Sociodemographic Factors in Adolescents in Catalonia: Application of VISA-TEEN Questionnaire

Abstract

IntroductionThere is a clear relationship between the way of life and the health of individuals, and therefore, we can speak of healthy and unhealthy lifestyles. There are different surveys and questionnaires that evaluate the lifestyles of adolescents, but none of them offers a final score that can quantify the healthfulness of an adolescent’s lifestyle. It was with this goal that the VISA-TEEN questionnaire is developed and validated. The objective of this study is to apply the questionnaire to a sample of adolescents who attend school in Catalonia to evaluate the healthfulness of their lifestyles and to relate the scores obtained to different sociodemographic variables.MethodsCross-sectional study. A total of 2,832 students from 25 schools in Catalonia responded to the questionnaire. A descriptive analysis was performed, calculating the mean (Standard deviation), median (p25, p75), and confidence interval. The results were calculated for the total population, factoring according to gender, age, urban/rural population, origin (native/immigrant), and family wealth, which was based on the Family Affluence Scale (FAS II). The significance of the difference was calculated for each factor with the appropriate statistical test.ResultsFor the total score of healthy lifestyle, the youngest students and those with the highest family wealth obtained higher scores. With respect to eating habits, girls scored higher than boys, and higher scores were observed in natives and those with high family wealth. For physical activity, boys scored higher, as well as younger individuals, natives, and those from rural areas. With respect to substance abuse, the worst scores were found in older individuals, students from rural areas, and natives. The rational use of leisure technology was only associated with age (worsening scores with older age). Lastly, hygiene was better with girls, decreased with age, and was worse with natives than immigrants.

Direct and Indirect Influences of Objective Socioeconomic Position on Adolescent Health: The Mediating Roles of Subjective Socioeconomic Status and Lifestyles

“…For example, Moor et al [28] demonstrated that family affluence inequalities in self-perceived health were explained almost 50% by behavioral and psychological factors. However, similar to studies on health inequalities, an association has been found regarding health-related behaviors such as frequency of eating breakfast or tooth brushing [32,33,34], but findings are inconsistent regarding other behaviors such as substance abuse or use of leisure technology [35]. In addition, although socioeconomic inequalities may affect certain health behaviors more than others, especially during adolescence, findings also show a varying relationship between SEP and lifestyles depending on the objective or subjective socioeconomic indicator employed [33,36].…”

Health Literacy and Health Behavior: Associated Factors in Surabaya High School Students, Indonesia

“…Considering the improvement of adolescents' HB, understanding the causes and the risk factors associated with the problems is important. Socioeconomic factors have been proved to be important for shaping health outcomes and HB in adolescents globally [20][21][22]. One study defined "children at risk" as children and adolescents with low social economic status that causes an impact on their health outcomes [23].…”

Determination of healthy lifestyle behaviors of high school students<p>Lise öğrencilerinin sağlıklı yaşam biçimi davranışlarının belirlenmesi

“…In literature, there are studies that argue the same finding (Geçkil and Yıldız, 2006b;Karadamar et al, 2014;Yıldız and Yıldırım, 2012;Ardıç and Esin, 2016;Costa-Tutusaus and Guerra-Balic, 2016). This made us conclude that males are affected by gender perception and lead a more active life and sports is a significant part of their lives.…”