Lifestyle and overall health in high school children: Results from the Toyama birth cohort study, Japan.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between lifestyle and overall health in high school children.

METHODS: Subjects were from the Toyama Birth Cohort Study, a prospective, longitudinal study of children born between 1989 and 1990, and who lived in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, at the time of the survey. This investigation used data from phase 5 of the Birth Cohort Study, which was conducted in 2005, when the children were in high school. Participants included 4,966 children (2,449 boys and 2,517 girls) aged 15-16 years old. A questionnaire was designed to measure lifestyle factors such as eating habits, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleeping pattern. A question from a validated Japanese version of the Dartmouth Primary Care Cooperative Information Project was used to evaluate overall health in children. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine if lifestyle factors are associated with overall health in high school children.

RESULTS: Boys who skipped breakfast and had short night-time sleep duration (≤6 h per night) were more likely to have poor health status. Girls who skipped breakfast, and had night-time eating patterns, personal computer use >4 h per day, and short night-time sleep duration (≤6 h/night) were more likely to have poor health status.

CONCLUSIONS: Undesirable lifestyle was associated with poor health status in high school boys and girls. Further understanding of these relationships is needed to facilitate the development of interventions that will help children with poor health status.