Objective: To analyze the daily drinking behavior and related factors of primary and middle school students in the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students (NIPRCES) pilot regions. Methods: Multi-stage stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select one to three national pilot counties in 22 provinces in central and western China where the NIPRCES was implemented in 2019. According to different feeding patterns, two primary schools and two middle schools were selected as key monitoring schools. One or two classes were selected from grade 3 to grade 9. The student questionnaire was used to collect the basic information and daily drinking behavior. Taking whether the drinking water ≥5 cups every day as the dependent variable, multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the related factors of drinking behavior among students. Results: A total of 27 374 students were included. On average, primary and middle school students in the regions where NIPRCES was implemented had 3.9 cups of water every day. Logistic regression model showed that boys (OR=1.230, P<0.001), primary school students (OR=1.379, P<0.001), father worked outside the home (OR=1.169, P<0.001), both parents worked outside the home (OR=1.228, P<0.001), non-resident students (OR=1.142, P<0.001), the school in the village (OR=1.638, P<0.001) or township (OR=1.358, P<0.001), school feeding (OR=1.252, P<0.001), the school building with flush toilets (OR=1.384, P<0.001) and the central regions (OR=1.300, P<0.001) students were more likely to drink ≥5 cups water every day. Conclusion: The water consumption of primary and middle school students in the pilot regions of NIPRCES is low, and their drinking behaviors are affected by many factors.
Male ; Humans ; Health Behavior ; China ; Drinking Behavior ; Students ; Drinking Water ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the prevalence and influencing factors for drinking behavior and heavy drinking among government employees in Changsha and provide a basis for carrying out interventions for drinking behaviors and formulating public health promotion plans for government employees. METHODS: Government employees were recruited consecutively from the Health Management Center of a general hospital in Changsha between December 2017 and December 2018. Information on sociodemograpic characteristics, drinking behaviors, life events, and psychosocial characteristics was collected using a standard set of questionnaire. Drinking behavior was defined as drinking once or more per week for the past 12 months. The differences in drinking rates and excessive drinking rates among groups with different characteristics were compared. Multivariate analysis was performed to analyze the associated factors of drinking behaviors and heavy drinking for government employees. RESULTS: A total of 6 190 people completed this investigation. The overall drinking rate of government employees in Changsha was 21.9%, and the rate of drinking was higher in males than that in females (44.7% vs 4.0%, CONCLUSIONS The drinking and heavy drinking rates of government employees are high in Changsha. Marital status, physical exercise, and frequency of social intercourse are the common influencing factors of male drinking behavior and female drinking behavior. The life events stimulation is the influencing factor of heavy drinking.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology* ; Female ; Government Employees ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors ; Smoking

Objective: Evidence regarding alcohol consumption and cognitive impairment is controversial. Whether cessation of drinking alcohol by non-dependent drinkers alters the risk of cognitive impairment remains unknown. This study prospectively evaluated the potential association between the history of lifetime alcohol cessation and risk of cognitive impairment. Methods: This study included 15,758 participants age 65 years or older, selected from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) that covered 23 provinces in China. Current alcohol use status, duration of alcohol cessation, and alcohol consumption before abstinence were self-reported by participants; cognitive function was evaluated using Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). Cause-specific hazard models and restricted cubic splines were applied to estimate the effect of alcohol use on cognitive impairment. Results: Among the 15,758 participants, mean (± SD) age was 82.8 years (± 11.9 years), and 7,199 (45.7%) were males. During a mean of 3.9 years of follow-up, 3,404 cases were identified as cognitive impairment. Compared with current drinkers, alcohol cessation of five to nine years [adjusted Conclusion A longer duration of alcohol cessation was associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment assessed by MMSE. Alcohol cessation is never late for older adults to prevent cognitive impairment.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alcohol Abstinence ; Alcohol Drinking ; China ; Cognition ; Cognitive Dysfunction/epidemiology* ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Mental Status and Dementia Tests ; Risk

BACKGROUND: Bacterial contamination of drinking water is a major public health problem in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Unimproved water sources are a major reservoir of Escherichia coli (E. coli) causing severe diarrhoea in humans. This study assessed E. coli counts in drinking water from different sources and their relationship with water source protection status and neighbourhood sanitation and hygiene practices in rural villages of Mohale Basin in Lesotho. METHODS: Thirty drinking water sources were purposively sampled and their water analysed for E. coli counts. The types of water sources, their protection status and neighbourhood sanitation and hygiene practices in their proximity were also assessed. E. coli counts in water samples were compared to water source protection status, neighbourhood sanitation, hygiene practices, livestock faeces and latrine proximity to water sources. RESULTS: E. coli counts were found in all water samples and ranged from less than 30 colony-forming units (cfu)/100 ml to 4800 cfu/100 ml in protected sources to 43,500,000 cfu/100 ml in unprotected sources. A significant association between E. coli counts in drinking water samples and lack of water source protection, high prevalence of open defecation (59%, n = 100), unhygienic practices, livestock faeces and latrine detections in proximity to water sources was found in the study (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Water sources in studied villages were contaminated with faeces and posed a health risk to consumers of that water. Community-led sanitation and hygiene education and better water source protection are urgently needed.
Drinking Water ; microbiology ; Escherichia coli ; isolation & purification ; Feces ; microbiology ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Lesotho ; Rural Health ; Sanitation ; methods ; statistics & numerical data ; Water Microbiology ; Water Quality ; Water Supply ; statistics & numerical data

BACKGROUND: Soil-transmitted helminthes (STH) infections are among the most common infections worldwide and affect the most deprived communities. Adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) prevents environmental contamination, thereby preventing transmission of STH. Cognizant of this, WASH education was implemented in rural Dembiya to reduce intestinal parasitic infections. This study was, therefore, conducted to assess the impacts of the intervention on households' WASH conditions and prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections. METHOD: An uncontrolled before-and-after intervention study was used. Cross-sectional studies were done before and after the intervention. Two hundred twenty-five and 302 under five children were recruited randomly at the baseline and endline, respectively. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and observational checklists. Direct stool examination and Kato-Katz methods were used to identify parasites in the stool. We used percent point change and prevalence ratio (PR) to see the effects of the intervention on WASH conditions and prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections respectively. Pearson chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests were used to test for statistically significant percentage point changes of WASH conditions. The effect of the intervention on intestinal parasitic infections was statistically tested on the basis of PR with 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The baseline prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was 25.8%, and the endline prevalence was 23.8%. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was not significantly decreased at the endline compared with the baseline [PR = 0.92, 95% CI = (0.62, 1.38)]. Ascaris Lumbricoides was the most prevalent parasitic infection both at the baseline and endline. The proportion of children who had good hygienic condition increased from 1.3% at the baseline to 34.4% at the end line (p <  0.05). The percentage of mothers/care givers who washed hands at different pick times was significantly increased from 24.4% at the baseline to 68.2% at the endline (p <  0.001). The proportion of households who practiced home-based water treatment was significantly increased from 7.6% at the baseline to 47% at the endline (p <  0.001). The proportion of households who used sanitary latrine was increased from 32% at the baseline to 49% at the endline (p <  0.05). CONCLUSION This before-and-after intervention study found that households' WASH performance was significantly improved at the endline compared with the baseline. The endline prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was slightly lower than the baseline prevalence; however, the reduction was not statistically significant. The local health office needs to strengthen the WASH education program, mobilize the community to construct WASH facilities, and support the community to sustain households' WASH performance.
Adult ; Child, Preschool ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Drinking Water ; parasitology ; standards ; Ethiopia ; epidemiology ; Family Characteristics ; Feces ; parasitology ; Female ; Health Behavior ; physiology ; Health Education ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Helminthiasis ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Hygiene ; education ; Infant ; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Male ; Prevalence ; Rural Population ; Sanitation ; Soil ; parasitology ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the effects of health-risk behaviors, alone and in combination, on health outcomes.METHODS: This study used sample cohort data provided by the National Health Insurance Service focusing on the use of hospital services, direct medical expenses, length of stay, and re-entry rate according to health-risk behaviors. A frequency analysis and the chi-square test were used to investigate associations between the demographic characteristics of study subjects and their health-risk behaviors. The strength of the association of each factor was calculated as the odds ratio in a crossover analysis.RESULTS: Obesity had the largest effect, especially in combination with smoking and drinking. In particular, significant associations were shown with the duration of hospitalization and direct medical expenses. After adjustment for sex, age, economic status, and pre-existing medical conditions, the duration of hospitalization was 7.37 times longer and that of medical expenses was 5.18 times higher in the obese group relative to the non-obese group. Drinking showed a statistically significant association with the number of days of hospitalization. After adjusting for the control variables, the number of hospital days was 1.24 longer in the drinking group than in the non-drinking group.CONCLUSIONS: An analysis of combinations of health risk factors showed obesity had the largest effect.
Chronic Disease ; Cohort Studies ; Drinking ; Health Behavior ; Hospitalization ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; National Health Programs ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking

OBJECTIVES: The study was to conduct a comparative assessment of drinking behaviors and overall health among pregnant and breastfeeding women.METHODS: This study used data collected from the Korean Community Health Survey in 2015. Data obtained from 2,156 pregnant or breastfeeding women were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the t-test, the chi-square test, and the Pearson correlation coefficient.RESULTS: Current drinking and alcohol consumption were higher among pregnant women than among breastfeeding women. Depression was twice as common among breastfeeding women than among pregnant women, and stress was much higher among breastfeeding women as well. Breastfeeding women also had lower subjective dental health and more unmet medical needs than pregnant women.CONCLUSIONS: Although pregnant women were in better overall health than breastfeeding women, many of them were unable to stop drinking, which is a risky and adverse health behavior that negatively affects maternal and fetal health. In order to reduce drinking among pregnant and breastfeeding women, it is necessary to develop a tailored, standardized educational program and national guidelines.
Alcohol Drinking ; Breast Feeding ; Depression ; Drinking Behavior ; Drinking ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Korea ; Pregnant Women

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that marital status is associated with household composition and living arrangements, which partially explain observed differences in health status according to marital status. However, due to the rapid socioeconomic and demographic transformations of the last few decades, the distribution of marital status among middle-aged adults has become more diverse. Therefore, this study aimed to obtain up-to-date information on the associations between marital status and health and to investigate the implications of these findings for conventional explanations of the health effects of marriage.METHODS: The data for this study were obtained from the 2015 Korean Community Health Study. We compared 4 modifiable lifestyle behaviors—smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and self-rated health status—as outcome variables in association with marital status in Korean middle-aged men (age 40-44) living in Seoul and other regions.RESULTS: Married men showed the lowest cigarette smoking prevalence and the highest subjective health status both before and after adjusting for education and income. The odds of engaging in vigorous physical activity did not show a major difference before and after adjustment for income and education.CONCLUSIONS: In married men, the prevalence of cigarette smoking was lowest and subjective health status was highest, similar to previous studies. However, the prevalence of engaging in physical activity was highest in divorced/widowed/separated men. The health behaviors and health status of Korean middle-aged adults should be more closely followed, since they are representative of demographic changes in the Korean population.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Male ; Marital Status ; Marriage ; Motor Activity ; Prevalence ; Residence Characteristics ; Seoul ; Smoking

PURPOSE: Despite the high drinking rates and the complexity of drinking behaviors in adolescents, insufficient attention has been paid to their drinking patterns. Therefore, we aimed to identify patterns of adolescent drinking behaviors and factors predicting the distinct subgroups of adolescent drinking behaviors.METHODS: We analyzed nationally representative secondary data obtained in 2017. Our final sample included 24,417 Korean adolescents who had consumed at least one glass of alcohol in their lifetime. To investigate patterns of drinking behaviors, we conducted a latent class analysis using nine alcohol-related characteristics, including alcohol consumption levels, solitary drinking, timing of drinking initiation, and negative consequences of drinking. Furthermore, we investigated differences in demographics, mental health status, and characteristics of substance use across the latent classes identified in our study. To do so, we used the PROC LCA with COVARIATES statement in the SAS software.RESULTS: We identified three latent classes of drinking behaviors: current non-drinkers (CND), binge drinkers (BD), and problem drinkers (PD). Compared to the CND class, both BD and PD classes were strongly associated with higher academic year, lower academic performance, higher levels of stress, suicidal ideation, lifetime conventional or electronic cigarette use, and lifetime use of other drugs.CONCLUSION: Health professionals should develop and implement intervention strategies targeting individual subgroups of drinking behaviors to obtain better outcomes. In particular, health professionals should consider different characteristics across subgroups of adolescent drinking behaviors when developing the interventions, such as poor mental health status and other substance use among binge and problem drinkers.
Adolescent ; Alcohol Drinking ; Demography ; Drinking Behavior ; Drinking ; Electronic Cigarettes ; Glass ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Republic of Korea ; Suicidal Ideation ; Underage Drinking

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the awareness of alcohol use during pregnancy and factors influencing the intention to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy by drinking levels.METHODS: Utilizing a comparative descriptive design, a total of 359 female college students were recruited. Measurements were Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) variables related awareness of alcohol use during pregnancy, Korean Version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, knowledge about alcohol use during pregnancy, and socio-demographic factors. Main variables were compared by drinking levels. The factors influencing the intention to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy were identified using hierarchical regression analysis.RESULTS: Non-problematic alcohol behavior group (n=185) had higher the intention to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy than problematic alcohol behavior group (n=174) (t=3.13, p=.002). The significant TPB variables influencing the intention to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy were that attitudes (β =−.44, p<.001), subjective norms (β =.14, p=.026), and perceived behavior control (β =.19, p=.002) in non-problematic alcohol behavior group, whereas the corresponding variables in the problematic alcohol behavior group were attitudes (β =−.51, p<.001) and subjective norms (β =.21, p=.006).CONCLUSION: It is necessary to increase the intention to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy for the female college students having problematic alcohol behavior. The following strategies are recommended for them; decreasing acceptable attitudes toward alcohol use during pregnancy and reinforcing the influence of social pressure toward to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy.
Alcohol Drinking ; Alcohol-Related Disorders ; Behavior Control ; Drinking ; Female ; Humans ; Intention ; Pregnancy