Alcohol Drinking, Smoking and Health Behaviors among Children in Low Income Families in Gangneung - Focused on Children in the After-school Program -

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined alcohol drinking, smoking, and health behaviors among children in low income families in the after-school program. Methods: Data were collected from 443 children in the 23 free after-school programs which had a network in Gangneung city in South Korea. The items of the questionnaire were selected from the 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey (K-NHANS), and the same age group were examined as K-NHANS. Results: The results showed that children in the after-school program had significantly high rate of suicidal ideation, smoking and alcohol drinking, compared to children in general in Korea. The results also showed that participation in physical activities and subjective health status in the children enrolling the free after-school programs were significantly lower than those of general children in Korea. Conclusion: These findings implied that special consideration should be given to the health status and health behaviors of children in low income families who enrolled in the free after-school programs. Based on the findings, we discussed the issue of health inequality of this population and policy implications to alleviate disparities in health status and improve health outcome in this population.