Abstract
Objectives: An investigative effort was made to provide basic data upon which effective public health education can be constructed for schools. Methods: The research was made by delivering self-administered questionnaires to 536 men and women with unknown names from a national university during 1-month period on September of 2004. The questionnaire items included preventive attitudes, interests, anxiety, health behavior, consciousness, etc. centering upon life-style related diseases. Results and Conclusions: The preventive attitudes against life-style related diseases was of a higher level in female than male students, The smaller number of students had knowledge of the definition of life-style related diseases, willingness to learn, and gathered information on them. The number of students who had anxiety about them was also small and as low as 54.3% of students were willing to undertake periodic health examination. A great variation ranging from 4.7% to 81.7% was shown in the accuracy rate of answers on the questions asking about three leading causes of death, overconsumption of dietary salt, obesity, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and colon cancer. With regard to health behaviors, a smaller number of students were involved in health behaviors. On the other hand, $25.7{\sim}35.1%$ of students had everyday exercises and breakfasts, 65.5% had no tobacco use. The study results showed that the survey subjects had deficient knowledge as well as a low level of preventive attitudes and interests against life-style related diseases. Moreover, their health behavior and health consciousness were undesirable apart from their low rates of taking periodic health examinations. Accordingly, the college students should be encouraged to take health education and to make more effective the existing health education in the university.
