Health promoting lifestyles of Jordanian university students

  • Authors

    • Omar Alkhawaldeh Faculty of nursing. Mutah University
    2014-04-08
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijans.v3i1.1931

  • Abstract

    Background: Health-promoting lifestyles of university students are strongly related to their current and subsequent health status. Low rates of health-promoting lifestyles among university students are still reported in literature. However, few studies in Jordan have examined health-promoting behaviors among university students.

    Objectives: This study was aimed to assess health-promoting lifestyles among university students and to examine relationship between the university student's characteristics and health-promoting lifestyles.

    Methods: A cross-sectional, correlational design was conducted using a sample of university students at Mutah University in Jordan. The Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) scale was given to students as self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics.

    Results: Of the 480 distributed questionnaires; 340 completed questionnaires were returned. Results revealed that the total average score for the HPLP-II for students was 2.4 (SD =0.4). The highest mean score was for spiritual growth subscale (M=3.0, SD= 0.7) and the lowest mean score was for physical activity subscale (M = 2.0, SD = 0.7). Students' scores on the health responsibility, nutritional habits, spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, and stress-management subscales of the HPLP-II did not differ significantly by gender, but males scored better than females on the physical exercise subscale.

    Conclusions: This study suggest that university administrators, curriculum planners, community health professionals, and public health nurses may need to develop guidelines and interventions for structuring a healthier environment and developing health promotion programs to assist university students in developing healthy lifestyles..

     

    Keywords: Health-Promoting Lifestyles; Jordan; University Students.

  • References

    1. Abolfotouh MA, Bassiouni FA, Mounir GM, & Fayyad RCh ( 2007). Health related lifestyles and risk behaviours among students living in Alexandria University hostels. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 13(2), 376–391.
    2. Acton GJ & Malathum P (2000). Basic need status of health-promoting self-care behavior in adults. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 22(7), 796-811.
    3. Al-Kandari F, Vidal, V, & Thomas D (2008). Health-promoting lifestyle and body mass index among College of Nursing students in Kuwait: A correlational study. Nursing and Health Sciences, 10, 43–50.
    4. Al-Nsour M, Zindah M, Belbeisi A, Hadaddin R, Brown DW, & Walke H (2012). Prevalence of selected chronic, noncommunicable disease risk factors in Jordan: results of the 2007 Jordan Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. Preventing Chronic Disease, 9. doi: ttp://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd9.110077
    5. Ammouri A, Neuberger G, Nashwan A, & Al-Haj A (2007). Determinants of self-reported physical activity among Jordanian adults. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 39, 342– 348.
    6. Ay S, Yanikkerem E, Ýldan Çalým S, Yazýcý M (2012). Health-promoting Lifestyle Behaviour for Cancer Prevention: a Survey of Turkish University Students. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 13, 2269-2277. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2012.13.5.2269
    7. Bothmer M & Fridlund B (2005). Gender differences in health habits and in motivation for a healthy lifestyle among Swedish university students. Nursing and Health Sciences, 7, 107–118.
    8. Can G, Ozdilli K, Erol O, Unsar S, Tulek Z, Savaser S, et al (2008). Comparison of the health-promoting lifestyles of nursing and non-nursing students in Istanbul, Turkey. Nursing and Health Sciences, 10, 273–280.
    9. Centers for Disease Control. (2006). Assessing risk factors for chronic disease-Jordan. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 55, 653–655.
    10. Eshah NF (2011). Lifestyle and health promoting behaviours in Jordanian subjects without prior history of coronary heart disease. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 17, 27–35.
    11. Faul F, Erdfelder E, Buchner A, & Lang A (2009). Statistical power analysis using G* 544 Power 3.1: test for correlation and regression analysis. Behavior Research Methods, 41 (4), 1149–1160.
    12. Gharaibeh M, Al-Ma’aitah R & Al-Jada N (2005). Lifestyle practices of Jordanian pregnant women. International Nursing Review, 52, 92–100
    13. Hacıhasanoglu R, Yıldırım A, Karakurt P, & Saglam R (2011). Healthy lifestyle behaviour in university students and influential factors in eastern Turkey. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 17, 43–51
    14. Haddad L, Kane D, Rajacich D, Cameron S, & Al-Ma’aitah R ( 2004). A comparison of health practices of Canadian and Jordanian nursing students. Public Health Nursing, 21(1), 85–90.
    15. Johnson RL (2005). Gender differences in health-promoting lifestyles of African Americans. Public Health Nursing, 22, 130–137.
    16. Lee R & Loke A (2005). Health-promoting behaviours and psychosocial well-being of university students in Hong Kong. Public Health Nursing, 22, 209–220.
    17. Mokdad A.H (2007). Health issues in the Arab American community. Chronic diseases and the potential for prevention in the Arab world: the Jordanian experience. Ethnicity and Disease, 17(2 Suppl 3), S3-51-S3-52.
    18. SPSS Inc (2007). SPSS statistics base 17.0 user guides, Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.
    19. Steptoe A, Phil D, Wardle J, Cui W, Bellisle,F, Zotti AM., et al.(2002). Trends in smoking, diet, physical exercise and attitudes toward health in European university students from 13 countries. Preventive Medicine, 35, 97–104. doi: 10.1006/pmed.2002.1048
    20. Steptoe A & Wardle J (2001). Health behavior, risk awareness and emotional well-being in students from Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Social Science & Medicine, 53 (12), 1621–1630.
    21. Vançelik S, Gürsel Ünal S, Güraksın A, & Beyhun E (2007). Nutrition knowledge and habits and associated factors in University Students. TSK Preventive Medicine Bulletin, 6, 242– 248.
    22. Von D, Ebert S, Ngamvitroj A, Park N, & Kang D ( 2004). Predictors of health behaviours in college students. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 48(5), 463–474.
    23. Walker SN, & Hill-Polerecky DM (1996). Psychometric evaluation of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II. Unpublished manuscript, University of Nebraska Medical Center.
    24. Walker SN, Sechrist KR, & Pender NJ (1987). The Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile: Development and psychometric characteristics. Nursing Research, 36(2), 76-81.
    25. Wang D, Ou CQ, Chen MY, & Duan N (2009). Health-promoting lifestyles of university students in Mainland China. BMC Public Health, 9,379. Doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-379.
    26. Wei CN, Harada K, Ueda K, Fukumoto K, Minamoto K, & Ueda A ( 2011). Assessment of health-promoting lifestyle profile in Japanese university students. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. Doi: 10.1007/s12199-011-0244-8.
    27. World Health Organization (2004). Global Database on Body Mass Index: BMI classification, WHO. Retrieved from www.who.int/bmi/index.jsp. Accessed March 30, 2013
    28. Zindah M, Belbeisi A, Walke H, & Mokdad AH (2008). Obesity and diabetes in Jordan: findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2004. Preventing Chronic Disease, 5(1). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2008/jan/06_0172.htm.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Alkhawaldeh, O. (2014). Health promoting lifestyles of Jordanian university students. International Journal of Advanced Nursing Studies, 3(1), 27-31. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijans.v3i1.1931

    Received date: 2014-02-04

    Accepted date: 2014-04-01

    Published date: 2014-04-08