Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet

Background: Given the recognized importance of preventing poor dietary behaviors during adolescence, we need a better understanding of college students’ dietary behaviors. Studies have found that individual factors and electronic health (eHealth) literacy may affect one’s dietary behaviors. However, few studies have fully investigated the effect of the three levels of eHealth literacy (functional, interactive, and critical) and the interactive effect of individual factors (eg, gender, monthly expenses, and frequency of cooking) and the three levels of eHealth literacy on the four aspects of dietary behaviors (consumer health, balanced diet, regular eating habits, and unhealthy food intake).Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether individual differences and higher eHealth literacy are associated with more positive dietary behaviors and less unhealthy dietary intake.Methods: The eHealth Literacy Scale is a 12-item instrument designed to measure college students’ functional, interactive, and critical eHealth literacy. The Dietary Behaviors Scale is a 14-item instrument developed to measure four aspects of dietary behaviors of college students. A questionnaire was administered to collect background information about participants’ gender, monthly expenses, and frequency of cooking. A national sample of college students was surveyed, and 813 responses were obtained. We conducted a multiple regression analysis to examine the association among individual factors, eHealth literacy, and dietary behaviors.Results: This study found that functional eHealth literacy was negatively related to unhealthy food intake (beta=−.11; P=.01), and interactive eHealth literacy was positively related to balanced diet (beta=.25; P<.001) and consumer health (beta=.15; P=.02). Moreover, critical eHealth literacy was positively related to consumer health (beta=.30; P<.001) and regular eating habits (beta=.20; P=.002). Finally, the interactive effect between gender and interactive eHealth literacy was negatively related to balanced diet (beta=−.22; P<.001). The interactive effect between monthly expenses and functional eHealth literacy was positively related to balanced diet (beta=.07; P=.03), although the interactive effect between monthly expenses and critical eHealth literacy was negatively related to balanced diet (beta=−.10; P=.047).Conclusions: This study showed that Taiwanese college students with higher functional eHealth literacy were more likely to engage in fewer unhealthy food consumption practices. Those who had higher interactive and critical eHealth literacy were more likely to engage in positive dietary behaviors than those with functional eHealth literacy. Surprisingly, females with high interactive eHealth literacy were more likely to have a poor balanced diet. In contrast, students with higher monthly expenses and higher functional eHealth literacy were more likely to have a balanced diet. However, students with higher monthly expenses and higher critical eHealth literacy were less likely to maintain a balanced diet.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the associations between individual factors, electronic health (eHealth) literacy, dietary behaviors, and exercise habits in college students, as well as the moderating effect of gender on the above target behaviors. Methods: A pen-and-paper questionnaire with a stratified sampling method was used to collect data, and at least 100 students from each stratum were determined to be used for the official sample in this study. Finally, 674 students completed the survey. Results and Conclusions: Chi-square test results demonstrated that genders had dissimilar dietary supplement use and subjective health status. Further analyses indicated females had a higher likelihood of taking dietary supplements and poorer subjective health statuses. The t-test results indicated that the functional eHealth literacy, dietary behaviors, and exercise habits of genders were different, and the mean scores showed that males had higher functional eHealth literacy, healthier dietary behaviors, and higher exercise involvement than females. Regression analyses showed that students who were male, took dietary supplements, placed the utmost importance on health, and had high critical eHealth literacy tended to possess healthy dietary behaviors. Students who were male and had good subjective health statuses tended to have higher exercise involvement. Specifically, the critical eHealth literacy changed dietary behaviors less effectively for women than for men, and the subjective health status changed exercise habits less effectively for women than for men. Therefore, when designing the diet and exercise intervention programs, gender-specific programs rather than generic programs should be given priority to develop.

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet #Preprint #PeerReviewMe: Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint. Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn. Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period. Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author). Background: eHealth literacy has become an important topic in the health field and related fields. Studies have found that individuals with higher eHealth literacy are more likely to use preventive care services and to have effective interactions with their physician. In addition, previous studies have shown that there is a gender difference in the utilization of physician access and outpatient services. Nevertheless, few studies have explored the associations among gender, eHealth literacy, and various determinants of health services utilization among college students. Moreover, there is a lack of studies that focus on the three levels of eHealth literacy as predictors of health services utilization. Objective: To investigate the associations among gender, eHealth literacy, and health services utilization. Methods: The eHealth Literacy Scale is a 12-item instrument designed to measure college students’ functional, interactive, and critical eHealth literacy. The Health Services Utilization Scale is a 10-item instrument developed to measure four dimensions of health services utilization by college students. A nationally representative sample of 489 valid college students in Taiwan was surveyed. We then conducted a multiple regression analysis to examine the associations among gender, eHealth literacy, and health services utilization. Results: The study found that being female negatively predicted the purpose dimension of health services utilization (t484=-2.85, P<0.01). Moreover, critical (t484=2.98-4.23, P<0.01) and interactive eHealth literacy (t484=2.43-2.89, P<0.05) predicted 3 of the health services utilization dimensions, and functional eHealth literacy predicted only the purpose dimension (t484=-2.63, P<0.01). Conclusions: This study found that participants with high interactive and critical eHealth literacy are more likely to utilize various determinants of health services. Moreover, it found that participants with low functional or high interactive eHealth literacy might have a short time interval for visiting a doctor and that females are less likely to seek preventive, illness-related and custodial care

Background: Both body mass index (BMI) and the perceived importance of health have received a lot of attention, but few studies have fully investigated the interaction of their effects on health behaviors. Objective: This study investigates the effects of BMI and the perceived importance of health on health behaviors (patterns of eating, sleeping, and exercising) among college students in Taiwan. Methods: A survey was conducted with 334 students to assess their perception of the importance of health (using indicators) and their health behavior (using the Health Behaviors Scale). Respondent BMI was calculated from self-reported body weight and height. Descriptive statistical analysis, independent t test analysis, two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and one-way ANOVA were conducted. Results: The results showed a significant difference between genders in health behaviors among college students (eating: t332=2.17, P=.03; exercise: t332=5.57, P<.001; sleep: t332=2.58, P=.01). Moreover, there was an interaction between BMI and perception (of the importance of health) for exercise behaviors (F2,328=3.50, P=.03), but not for eating behaviors (F2,328=0.12, P=.89) or sleep behaviors (F2,328=1.64, P=.20). Conclusions: This study establishes, for the first time, the interaction of BMI and the perceived importance of health on health behaviors. The perception of health was found to have a significant effect on exercise behaviors. Thus, the perception of health plays a significant role in the exercise behaviors of college students in Taiwan. This finding provides researchers, policy makers, and practitioners with evidence, and consequently, opportunities for focusing on preventive actions. The findings suggest that increasing the importance of health in the perception of college students, should be the focus of efforts to help students exercise more regularly.