Factors Affecting Health Behaviors in Late School-aged Children from Multicultural Families

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate factors affecting health behaviors in late school-aged children from multicultural families. METHODS: This study included 401 children (112 from multicultural families and 289 from non-multicultural backgrounds) in grades 4~6 in 11 elementary schools. Data on health behaviors and related factors (school adjustment, the mother-child relationship, self-efficacy, etc.) were collected from the children using self-reported questionnaires between May and June in 2019. The collected data were analyzed through a univariate analysis and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The health behavior score of multicultural children was lower than that of non-multicultural children (t=3.32, p=.001). In multicultural children, school adjustment (β=.55, p<.001), mother-child relationship (β=.25, p=.001), and perceived health status (very healthy=1; β=.19, p=.011) were significant factors affecting their health behavior and explained 47.0% (F=30.93, p<.001) of the variance. CONCLUSION: Multicultural late school-aged children are at risk to engage in a lower level of health behaviors than their non-multicultural counterparts. More attention should be paid to ways of improving multicultural children’s perceptions of their health status, maternal relationships, and school adjustment in order to promote health behaviors.