Health Behaviors and Health-related Quality of Life among Vulnerable Children in a Community

Suyeon Kim; Jina Choo

doi:10.12799/jkachn.2015.26.3.292

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Kim and Choo: Health Behaviors and Health-related Quality of Life among Vulnerable Children in a Community

Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing 2015; 26(3): 292-302.

Published online: 30 September 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2015.26.3.292

Health Behaviors and Health-related Quality of Life among Vulnerable Children in a Community

Suyeon Kim, Jina Choo

College of Nursing, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author: Choo, Jina. College of Nursing, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea. Tel: +82-2-3290-4925, Fax: +82-2-928-9107, jinachoo@korea.ac.kr

Received 27 April 2015 Revised 16 September 2015 Accepted 23 September 2015

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between health behaviors and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among vulnerable children in a community.

Methods

Using data from 'The Obesity Prevention Framework for Vulnerable Children', a secondary analysis was conducted for 165 children (ages 8~12 years) and their parents who were recruited from 16 K-gu Community Child Centers in Seoul. Six types of health behaviors related to eating and activity were assessed. Each behavior was categorized into the non-recommended vs. recommended levels. The scores of the recommended levels of the six health behaviors were summed up for the composite score of health behaviors. HRQOL was measured by KIDSCREEN-52.

Results

The groups with a non-recommended level of fast food intake and sedentary behavior had a significantly lower total score of KIDSCREEN-52 than those with a recommended level. Moreover, the lower composite score of health behaviors was significantly associated with the lower total score of KIDSCREEN-52.

Conclusion

Among the vulnerable children, the six recommended health behaviors and their composite score were in significant positive associations with the HRQOL levels. Therefore, nursing strategies for enhancing the recommended levels of health behaviors are needed for vulnerable children.

Keywords: Vulnerable populations, Child, Health behavior, Quality of life

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Percentages of recommended vs. non-recommended health behaviors.

Figure 2

Distribution of the composite scores of health behaviors.

Figure 3

Levels of health-related quality of life as measured by KIDSCREEN-52.

Table 1

Sociodemographic Characteristics among Vulnerable Children and their Parents (N=165)

Variables	Characteristics	Categories	N	n (%)	M±SD
Children's characteristics	Age (year)		165		9.8±1.26
	Girls		165	84 (50.9)
	Family type	Two parents family	165	107 (64.9)
		One parent family		56 (33.9)
		Grandparents family		2 (1.2)
	Perceived economic status	Very low	165	2 (1.2)
		Low		13 (7.9)
		Moderate		97 (58.8)
		High		45 (27.3)
		Very high		8 (4.8)
	Academic achievement	Very low	165	12 (7.3)
		Low		20 (12.1)
		Moderate		82 (49.7)
		High		41 (24.8)
		Very high		10 (6.1)
	Having many friends	Yes	165	132 (80.0)
	Having many friends	No	165	33 (20.0)
	Self-rated health	Poor	165	6 (3.6)
		Fair		12 (7.3)
		Good		88 (53.3)
		Very good		33 (20.0)
		Excellent		26 (15.8)
	Illness	Yes	152	42 (27.6)
	Illness	No	152	110 (72.4)
Parents' characteristics	Mothers' age (year)		140		41.3±5.46
	Mothers' education	Elementary school	140	7 (5.0)
		Middle school		12 (8.5)
		High school		89 (63.6)
		≥College		32 (22.9)
	Fathers' age (year)		144		43.7±5.86
	Fathers' education	Elementary school	146	3 (2.1)
		Middle school		19 (13.0)
		High school		91 (62.3)
		≥College		33 (22.6)
	Marital status	Married	148	85 (57.4)
		Separated		14 (9.5)
		Widowed		4 (2.7)
		Divorced		45 (30.4)
	Monthly household income (10,000 won)	≤100	152	35 (23.0)
		101~200		82 (53.9)
		201~300		21 (13.8)
		301~400		12 (7.9)
		401~500		2 (1.4)
		≥501		0 (0.0)
	Employed	Yes	151	112 (74.2)
	Employed	No	151	39 (25.8)
	Coverage of health insurance	Company health insurance	152	48 (31.6)
		Local health insurance		59 (38.8)
		Medical aid/none		45 (29.6)
	Religion	Yes	152	99 (65.1)
	Religion	No	152	53 (34.9)

Table 2

Associations between Health Behaviors and HRQOL among Vulnerable Children (N=165)

Variables	Eating behaviors				Activity behaviors		Composite scores of health behaviors^†
	Fast food	Sweetened beverage	Fruits & vegetables	Breakfast	Sweated activity	Sedentary behavior	Composite scores of health behaviors^†
	β (SE)	β (SE)	β (SE)	β (SE)	β (SE)	β (SE)	β (SE)
Total	-2.82 (1.31)^*	-2.26 (1.57)	1.25 (1.30)	2.16 (1.35)	3.45 (2.13)	-4.35 (1.47)^*	1.72 (0.49)^*
Physical well-being	-0.48 (1.90)	-2.13 (2.25)	2.10 (1.86)	1.28 (1.93)	14.28 (2.80)^*	-2.77 (2.16)	1.78 (0.71)^*
Psychological well-being	-4.16 (2.07)^*	-3.98 (2.47)	2.51 (2.05)	4.76 (2.12)^*	4.14 (3.38)	-8.30 (2.29)^*	3.16 (0.76)^*
Moods & emotions	-2.19 (2.22)	-2.04 (2.63)	1.48 (2.18)	3.21 (2.25)	1.53 (3.59)	-0.61 (2.55)	1.29 (0.85)
Social support & peers	-2.03 (2.19)	0.17 (2.60)	2.70 (2.14)	2.83 (2.23)	5.17 (3.51)	-7.78 (2.41)^*	2.31 (0.82)^*
Parent relation & home life	-5.87 (1.91)^*	-4.92 (2.31)^*	4.85 (1.89)^*	2.07 (1.99)	1.67 (3.20)	-6.56 (2.19)^*	2.95 (0.70)^*
Self-perception	-5.93 (1.77)^*	-6.68 (2.10)^*	0.67 (1.80)	-0.66 (1.83)	5.02 (2.94)	-2.45 (2.09)	1.88 (0.67)^*
Autonomy	-3.17 (1.91)	-0.99 (2.28)	0.47 (1.89)	1.91 (1.92)	2.26 (3.10)	5.96 (2.11)^*	1.48 (0.72)^*
School environment	-4.68 (2.28)^*	-3.00 (2.73)	0.75 (2.27)	5.54 (2.29)^*	2.79 (3.73)	-6.50 (2.58)^*	2.52 (0.85)^*
Social acceptance (bullying)	-1.78 (2.09)	-0.35 (2.48)	-1.52 (2.05)	1.42 (2.12)	1.17 (3.38)	-0.49 (2.39)	0.41 (0.80)
Financial resources	2.09 (2.07)	1.29 (2.45)	-1.49 (2.03)	-0.79 (2.08)	-3.53 (3.34)	-2.06 (2.37)	-0.55 (0.78)

HRQOL=health-related quality of life; β=unstandardized coefficients; SE=standard error.

All HRQOL variables were adjusted for age, girls, perceived economic status, academic achievement, having many friends, mothers' education levels, monthly household income, parents' employed status, parents' coverage status of health insurance, and parent-reported children's illness.

^*p<.05; ^†Composite scores indicate the sum of recommended levels of six health behaviors[16 17].

Notes

This article is based on a part of the first author's master's thesis from Korea University.

This study was supported by the Health Promotion Fund, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea(13-8).

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