title: A cross-sectional study of health-related behaviors in rural eastern China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the status of health-related behaviors among rural residents and the factors influencing the practice of such behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand and ninety subjects aged 15 years or over in a rural community, Anhui Province, China were surveyed. A questionnaire was used to collect information on the health knowledge, attitude and behavior of the subjects. Information on health behavior included smoking, drinking, dietary habits, regular exercises, sleeping pattern and oral health behavior.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of smoking and drinking in the male subjects was 46.5% and 46.9%, respectively. There was a positive significant association between smoking and drinking. Only 8.3% of all subjects ate three regular meals a day regularly. Among subjects who ate two meals a day, 89.7% did not have breakfast. Only 1.7% of subjects took part in regular exercise. About 85% of subjects slept 6 to 8 h per day. Only 38.4% of the respondents had the habit of hand washing before eating and after using the lavatory. 79.3% of the subjects brushed their teeth every day, and among them, only 10.6 percent brushed their teeth twice a day. Further analyses showed that 64.8% of subjects had 3-5 items of positive health behaviors out of 8 items and only 16.9% had six or more items. Logistical regression analyses suggested that better health behavior was affected by sex, age, years of education, income and health knowledge.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The status of health behaviors among rural residents was generally poor. It is thus urgent to reinforce health education in rural communities in China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, China. yhsun@sina.com
authors.forename: Ye-Huan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Tak-Sun Ignatius
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Shi-Lu
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012424:Rural Population; D012890:Sleep; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*