Health related behaviours of secondary students living in dormitory in Hungary

Background Previous studies have shown that unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise are still widespread among high school students. Hungary and many other countries have attempted to introduce campaigns and health education programs among adolescents to promote healthier lifestyle, but the effectiveness of these programs is unclear. Our aim was to investigate the consistency between knowledge and behavior in adolescents. Methods A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in 9 secondary schools’ student dormitories, involving 163 students. Descriptive statistics were estimated and chi2- test was used to compare the prevalence between groups. Results Of the participants 69.3% reported their health status good, girls and those students who studied in vocational school frequently considered their own health bad (p = 0.002). Almost all of them highlighted the importance of regular physical activity, but 27.7% had low physical activity. Daily consumption of fruit and vegetables seems to be characteristic just half of the students, the structure of their daily snacks consists more in sugar-sweetened snacks (21.7%) and energy dense beverages (22.8%). Students with higher level of health-consciousness rated better their own health status and took exercise more frequently, but the higher level of health-consciousness had not positive effect on the healthy food consumption (p = 0.143). Conclusions Our findings suggest lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits were still widespread among high school students. The results of the study showed that adolescents have sufficient knowledge about healthy lifestyle, however, it has little impact on their health-related behaviour. Key messages The most important characteristic of an effective health promotion programme is its ability to change behaviour. Health promotion programmes should continue in schools, especially focus on behaviour changing interventions to effectively influence the health of the students.