Abstract
BackgroundRelatively little is known about the peer influence in health behaviors within university dormitory rooms. Moreover, in China, the problem of unhealthy behaviors among university students has not yet been sufficiently recognized. We thus investigated health behavior peer influence in Peking University dormitories utilizing a randomized cluster-assignment design.MethodsStudy design: Cross-sectional in-dormitory survey. Study population: Current students from Peking University Health Science Center from April to June, 2009. Measurement: Self-reported questionnaire on health behaviors: physical activity (including bicycling), dietary intake and tobacco use.ResultsUse of bicycle, moderate-intensity exercise, frequency of sweet food and soybean milk intake, frequency of roasted/baked/toasted food intake were behaviors significantly or marginally significantly affected by peer influence.ConclusionHealth behavior peer effects exist within dormitory rooms among university students. This could provide guidance on room assignment, or inform intervention programs. Examining these may demand attention from university administrators and policy makers.
Highlights
Non-communicable disease (NCDs), such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease have become a major public health problem in China, accounting for 80% of deaths and 70% of disability adjusted life-years lost, resulting in enormous economic burden
High health care cost and medical expenditure related to NCDs can lead to poverty and health disparities [1]
Besides the personal behavioral risk factors above, it has been argued that some public health approaches are ‘ignoring the wider environment within which risk factors arise and providing a limited and biased view of disease causation from a population perspective’ [8,9]
Summary
Non-communicable disease (NCDs), such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease have become a major public health problem in China, accounting for 80% of deaths and 70% of disability adjusted life-years lost, resulting in enormous economic burden. Besides the personal behavioral risk factors above, it has been argued that some public health approaches are ‘ignoring the wider environment within which risk factors arise and providing a limited and biased view of disease causation from a population perspective’ [8,9]. Little is known about the peer influence in health behaviors within university dormitory rooms. In China, the problem of unhealthy behaviors among university students has not yet been sufficiently recognized. We investigated health behavior peer influence in Peking University dormitories utilizing a randomized clusterassignment design
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