Health Behaviors of a Sample of Adolescents in Bandar Abbas, Iran

Background: Health promotion for adolescents has become a research priority worldwide and life at school offers a good opportunity to establish health promoting behavior among this age group. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate health behaviors of a sample of adolescents in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Materials and Methods: Totally, 410 students including 204 males and 206 females studying in grades 9 to 12 and aged between 15–18 years old were studied. The instruments used to collect data were a self administered demographic questionnaire and the scale of Adolescent Health Promotion (AHP). Results: The mean age of participants was 16.5 (SD = 1.34) years. The mean score of Adolescent Health Promotion (AHP) scale was 64.8 (SD = 8.9) ranging from 34.3 to 89.9. Female students scored significantly higher for health-responsibility, life-appreciation, and stress-management than male students (P 0.05). In contrast, male students scored higher scores on exercise behavior than female (P 0.05). All dimensions of AHP scale except for nutrition behavior and social support was associated with gender and nutrition behavior was associated with age (P 0.05). Conclusions: This study indicated that sedentary life style and physical inactivity is a common and serious problem among high school students of Bandar Abbas.