Related Factors to Health Promoting Self-Care Behaviors among Adolescents

Background and Objectives: Health promoting behaviors are formed during adolescence and often remain until adulthood. This study aimed to explore related factors to health promoting self-care behaviors among adolescents. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 among 426 adolescents living in Tabriz. Adolescent Health Promotion (AHP) questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients applying SPSS v.16. Results: The mean score of the health promoting behaviors was 69.83. Among six health-promoting behaviors, physical activity and health responsibility were not in good conditions among the students. Adolescents had a high score in the dimension of life appreciation (80.62). There was a significant difference in self-care score between male and female participants (p≥0.05). There were no significant relationships between self-care with age, family size, and birth rank (p≥0.05). There was a significant difference between father education level and family size with nutritional behaviors of the adolescents (p≥0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the health responsibility among adolescents was low and their physical activities were not sufficient. These results are a warning to policy-makers to pay attention seriously to promoting school health programs in order to promote self-care behaviors among adolescents.