Influences on Health Behaviors Execution and Self Rated Health as Socioeconomic Class by the Age Bracket

The purpose of present study was to observe the path and influencing effects between socioeconomic class (SEC), health practices and self-rated health(SRH) by the age bracket. The subjects were 4,987 adults over 25 years old who participated in the 2008 Korean National Examination Health and Nutrition Survey and could be classified into SEC in terms of the three characteristics: education, income and occupation. Path analysis was conducted with the effects of health behaviors execution on the differences in SRH, and the complex samples analysis executed by chi-square test, t-test, ANOVA. As the result, lower SRH level paralleled with the lower SEC, and more health behaviors had differed by SEC in the younger and middle aged group. The lower SEC, the lower SRH: non-smoking and weight control for younger women and exercise for aged men had indirect effects as parameters. In conclusion, when planning a health promotion program, to select the correct target populations with consideration of the age bracket, gender and SEC and to establish tailored contents fit for each of the population would be important.