title: Low knowledge of physical health behaviours is associated with poor diet and chronic illness in adults.
abstract: Governments invest heavily in health promotion strategies to improve physical health behaviours. However, the dietary and physical activity practices of many Australians fail to meet minimum levels for health, leading to the unacceptably high prevalence of chronic and complex illness. Health literacy is known to impact on health behaviour, and to be related to health knowledge; however, no studies have specifically examined knowledge of physical health behaviours in an Australian context. We assessed knowledge of physical health behaviours in 1244 adults in Queensland, Australia. Almost two-thirds of respondents had a 'Good' knowledge of physical health behaviour. People with 'Good' knowledge of physical health behaviours were more likely to be female, educated beyond secondary school, be employed and have an annual household income of >$52000 (P<0.05). People with 'Low' knowledge of physical health behaviours were significantly more likely to report insufficient intake of vegetables and have at least one chronic illness (P<0.05). Binary logistic regression shows low daily intake of vegetables to have the strongest association with low knowledge of physical health behaviours. Given the association between health knowledge and health literacy, assessment of the knowledge of physical health behaviours may provide considerable insight into the effectiveness of future health promotion interventions.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical and Applied and Sciences, CQUniversity, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, Qld 4702, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.affiliation: NorthWest Academic Centre, The University of Melbourne, Northern Hospital, 185 Cooper Street, Epping, Vic. 3076, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Practice, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, University Drive, Bruce, NSW 2617, Australia.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Happell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011793:Queensland; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires