Health behaviours of Guzelbahce IMKB vocational and Technical Anatolian High School students

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Adolescents constitutes 10-15% of the population. Health behaviors that are adopted during adolescence enable to be healthier both in adolescence and in adulthood. The risky behaviors of adolescents and the health problems caused by these behaviors can be changed via health improvement initiatives. The aim of this research is to determine the health behaviors of students of Guzelbahce İMKB Occupational and Technical High School and the factors having an impact on these behaviors. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. The subject of the research is 251 students from Guzelbahce İMKB Occupational and Technical High School, including 9th and 10th grades, from 2016-2017 academic years. The sample size is not calculated. The dependent variables are the following: to have breakfast, moderate to vigorous physical activity, tobacco use, physical fight, being buillied, and taking part in bullying. The independent variables are as follows: sociodemographic variables, school life-related variables, subjective health complaints index, and social support-related variables. The data collection tool is filled out by the students in classrooms in November 2016 under the supervision of researchers. Data analysis is performed in SPSS 15.0. The descriptive findings are presented in the form of percentage distributions for categorical variables and mean ± standard deviation for continuous variables. In order to determine the impact of independent variables on health behaviors, Chi-squared test, Fisher's exact test, and Mann-Whitney U test are used in univariable analysis. Logistic Regression is used in multivariate analysis. RESULTS: 203 students (80.9%) are reached in this research. The average age is 15.5±0.8 with a minimum of 14 and a maximum of 17. The male and female percentages are 86.9% and 13.1%, respectively. The 9th and 10th grades constitute 54.5% and 45.5% of the students, respectively. 46.4% of the students have a daily breakfast routine. 21.9% of the students do moderate to vigorous physical activity. 14.6% of the students use tobacco at least once a day. 58.9% of the students get involved in a physical fight. 19.8% of the students are being buillied and 23.7% of them take part in bullying. A daily breakfast routine is more likely to occur in males, very good/good/medium income perceptions, positive opinions about the school, and very good/good perception of success at school (p=0.007, p=0.006, p=0.024, p=0.028, respectively). Subjective health complaints index is significantly higher for students having daily breakfast routine (p=0.001). The increase in family-support and peer-support points leads to an increase in likelihood of having regular breakfast routine (OR:1.84, %95 GA:1.139-2.983, OR:2.16, %95 GA:1.371-3.397, respectively). The average age is significantly higher (p=0.042) for the students using tobacco. The subjective health complaints index is significantly lower (p=0.001) for students using tobacco. It is more likely for a student to get involved in a physical fight if the student has negative opinions about the school and/or is overwhelmed by the coursework (p=0.001, p=0.006, respectively). The subjective health index is significantly lower for students getting involved in a fight. The increase in family-support point has a negative impact on the likelihood of a physical fight (OR:0.52, %95 GA:0.332-0.850). Immigrant students are more likely to be exposed to peer pressure (p=0.031). The increase in family-support, family-communication, and peer-support points decreases the likelihood of being bullied (OR:0.60, %95 GA:0.363-0.974, OR:0.44, %95 GA:0.246-0.771, OR:0.50, %95 GA:0.314-0.787, respectively). The likelihood of bullying is most common among students having at most 1 sibling, having a family of at most 4, and having negative opinions about the school (p=0.028, p=0.004, p=0.024, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: It is rare for high school students to have a daily breakfast routine. Among the risky behaviors, the use of tobacco and getting involved in a physical fight are more common than bullying. To determine the health behaviors and risks of students is highly important for health improving initiatives. KEYWORDS: Adolescent, health behavior, high school