JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The role of BMI and the perceived importance of health has received much attention, but few studies have fully investigated their interactive effect on health behaviors.

Objective:

This study investigates the interactive effects of body mass index (BMI) and the perceived importance of health on health behaviors, which include patterns of eating, sleeping, and exercising, among college students in Taiwan.

Methods:

A survey was conducted on 334 students to assess the indicators on height, weight, perceived importance of health, and performance on the Health Behaviors Scale (HBS). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to identify the best measurement models for the 12-item HBS, and descriptive statistical analysis was used to have a better understanding of the characteristics of the participants. The multivariate analysis of variance was then performed to analyze the interactive effects of BMI and of the perceived importance of health on the health behaviors of the participants.

Results:

Some interaction was seen between BMI and the perceived importance of health on exercise behaviors, but not on eating and sleep behaviors. Significantly, the findings reveal that perceived importance of health has a greater effect than BMI on exercise behaviors.

Conclusions:

This study has established for the first time the interactive effect of BMI and the perceived importance of health on health behaviors. The perception of health rather than BMI was found to have a more important effect on college students’ exercise behaviors. Thus, the perception of health plays a significant role in the exercise behaviors of college students in Taiwan. This finding provides researchers, policy makers, and practitioners in the field with evidence and opportunities for focusing on preventive actions counter lack of exercise. This can help increase the perception of health among overweight students, thereby helping them adopt regular exercise habits.