Published : 2021-09-30

Variation in health behaviours of adolescents and its relationships with living conditions and perceptions of their local environment

Agnieszka Augustyn



Dariusz Rutkowski



Lidia Pac-Pomarnacka



Abstract

Health represents the most cherished personal and social value. In the field of research on health behaviours socio-economic factors relating to wealth, social standing and social capital are viewed as increasingly important. The underlying assumption is that social inequalities can exert, directly or indirectly, considerable influence on adolescents’ health and future. The aim of this study was to identify correlations between health-enhancing and health-compromising behaviours reported by adolescents aged 15-16 and their living conditions and local residential environment. The study is based on data collected during a questionnaire survey involving a pur-posive sample of students, administered in 34 schools from Wrocław. Health behaviours were assessed using the questionnaire from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey, a WHO collaborative cross-national survey with proven accuracy and reliability. Selected health behaviours reported by respondents were analysed with respect to their scores achieved on the Family Affluence Scale, the incidence of problems in their local residential environment and the perceived level of social capital in their local environment. It was found that adolescents from better-off families tended to spend less free time watching TV, playing computer games or using the internet. Higher FAS scores were not always correlated with health-enhancing behaviours. Adolescents with lowest FAS scores were least likely to drink alcohol. A high perceived level of social capital in the local environment was found to be significantly correlated with the recom-mended daily level of physical activity. Moreover, the higher the perceived level of social capital, the more likely the respondents were to smoke tobacco. A higher incidence of problems in the local environment was not significantly correlated with health behaviours.


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Augustyn, A., Rutkowski, D., & Pac-Pomarnacka, L. (2021). Variation in health behaviours of adolescents and its relationships with living conditions and perceptions of their local environment. Studia Periegetica, 35(3), 41–60. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0015.6039

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Uniwersytet WSB Merito w Poznaniu
ul. Powstańców Wielkopolskich 5
61-895 Poznań
e-mail: journals@poznan.merito.pl
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Uniwersytet WSB Merito w Poznaniu / WSB Merito University
ul. Powstańców Wielkopolskich 5
61-895 Poznań

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