Comparison of Health Behaviors and Health Risk between Japanese and American college students

Purpose. This study compares the health behaviors and health risks of American and Japanese college students. College students' health-risk behaviors (such as safety belt usage, dietary intake, physical activity and tobacco and alcohol use) need to be examined more closely. Methods. A health behaviors and health risks questionnaire, formatted after the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey (NCHRBS),was administered to two universities in Japan and one college in America totally about 400 subjects. Results/Conclusion. The questionnaire assessed a variety of health behaviors such as: alcohol use, drug use, dietary habits, physical activity, and body image. The preliminary analysis indicates that a larger percentage of Japanese students smoke and started smoking earlier than American students. In terms of drinking, more Japanese students started drinking at younger ages, however more American students are reporting to drink in general and drink heavily. In terms of the perception of weight, more Japanese students see themselves as overweight (although they are classified as normal weight) and more Japanese students responded that they wanted to lose weight and used diet pills than American students. More American students did engage in exercise to try controlling weight than Japanese students. This data may provide additional cultural insight as more programming and interventions are conducted to address the issue of college health risk behaviors.