Huonoon tai kohtalaiseen itsearvioituun terveydentilaan yhteydessä olevat tekijät viidesluokkalaisilla lapsilla

Self-rated health is a multifaceted measure that combines socio-cultural factors with individual-level experience. Because of its versatility, it is an important tool for monitoring children’s health. The self-rated health status of Finnish children seems to have deteriorated in recent years. More knowledge is therefore needed on children’s health experience and related factors, but relatively little research has been done on the previous ones. The aim of this study was to identify which factors are associated with poor or fair self-rated health status among 11-year-old children and whether these factors differ by gender.

The cross-sectional data for the study was drawn from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study 2018, using surveys from 11-year-old schoolchildren (n=959) from Finland. Using logistic regression model, we examined how socioeconomic status, self-perceived weight, subjective health complaints, eating breakfast, daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, and physical activity are associated with poor or fair self-rated health status among girls and boys.

Perceiving one’s own body as too fat or too thin was associated with poor or fair self-rated health status in all the models studied for both genders. When looking at the associations of individual factors with poor or fair self-rated health status in univariate logistic models, it was found statistically significant interaction with gender and subjective health complaints, and gender and eating breakfast on weekends. Factors associated with poor or fair self-rated health status were weighted differently for boys and girls, even when examining the simultaneous association of several factors in multiple logistic regression. Unhealthy eating habits were highlighted more for boys, and subjective health complaints and irregular breakfast eating on weekends for girls.

Our research on the factors related to the poor or fair self-rated health of schoolchildren gives indications of the early development of gender differences. In addition to these differences, attention should be paid to the given importance of self-perceived body weight already in elementary school.