Impact of socioeconomic factors and neighborhood environments on health behaviors among Korean children

Objectives:Health behaviors exhibited in childhood highly affect later health status in one's adulthood. While there are great amount of health disparity studies on children, there are only few studies investigating the influence of both socioeconomic factors and neighborhood environments on child health behaviors. The study aims to examine the effects of parental socioeconomic factors (family poverty, parent's education level, and mother's employment status) and physical/social neighborhood environments on dietary habits and physical activity of children in South Korea.

Methods:The study employed '2009 Comprehensive Survey of Korean Youth and Children' data and 1,176 respondents (age 12-14) were included using both multivariate and logistic regression analysis.

Results:Results showed that there is a significant relation between children's dietary habits and parental socioeconomic factors. Children from non-poor families (p<.05), whose parents completed higher education (p<.01), and whose mothers were not working (p<.01) had better dietary habits than their counterparts. Also, children in better physical environment (with gyms, community health centers, park or green areas) were more likely to be physically active (OR=1.21, p<.01). Children in better social environment (perception of neighborhood safety, crime rates, and trust among neighbors) were more likely to be physically active (â= .06, p<.05) and to have better dietary habits (OR=.05, p<.05).

Conclusions:Findings suggest health promoting solutions for children from disadvantaged neighborhood environments or those from poor and/or dual-working families.