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Low knowledge of physical health behaviours is associated with poor diet and chronic illness in adults
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posted on 2016-01-01, 00:00 authored by R Stanton, David ScottDavid Scott, B HappellGovernments invest heavily in health promotion strategies to improve physical health behaviours. However, the dietary and physical activity practices of many Australians fail to meet minimum levels for health, leading to the unacceptably high prevalence of chronic and complex illness. Health literacy is known to impact on health behaviour, and to be related to health knowledge; however, no studies have specifically examined knowledge of physical health behaviours in an Australian context. We assessed knowledge of physical health behaviours in 1244 adults in Queensland, Australia. Almost two-thirds of respondents had a ‘Good’ knowledge of physical health behaviour. People with ‘Good’ knowledge of physical health behaviours were more likely to be female, educated beyond secondary school, be employed and have an annual household income of >$52000 (P<0.05). People with ‘Low’ knowledge of physical health behaviours were significantly more likely to report insufficient intake of vegetables and have at least one chronic illness (P<0.05). Binary logistic regression shows low daily intake of vegetables to have the strongest association with low knowledge of physical health behaviours. Given the association between health knowledge and health literacy, assessment of the knowledge of physical health behaviours may provide considerable insight into the effectiveness of future health promotion interventions.
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Journal
Australian Journal of Primary HealthVolume
22Issue
3Pagination
226 - 232Publisher
CSIRO PublishingLocation
Melbourne, Vic.Publisher DOI
ISSN
1448-7527eISSN
1836-7399Language
EnglishPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalUsage metrics
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