Health Behaviors of a Sample of Adolescents in Bandar Abbas, Iran

Background: health promotion for adolescents has become a research priority worldwide and life at school offers a good opportunity to establish health promoting behavior among this age group. objectives: this study aimed to investigate health behaviors of a sample of adolescents in bandar abbas, iran. materials and methods: totally, 410 students including 204 males and 206 females studying in grades 9 to 12 and aged between 15–18 years old were studied. the instruments used to collect data were a self administered demographic questionnaire and the scale of adolescent health promotion (ahp). results: the mean age of participants was 16.5 (sd = 1.34) years. the mean score of adolescent health promotion (ahp) scale was 64.8 (sd = 8.9) ranging from 34.3 to 89.9. female students scored significantly higher for health-responsibility, life-appreciation, and stress-management than male students (p < 0.05). in contrast, male students scored higher scores on exercise behavior than female (p < 0.05). all dimensions of ahp scale except for nutrition behavior and social support was associated with gender and nutrition behavior was associated with age (p < 0.05). conclusions: this study indicated that sedentary life style and physical inactivity is a common and serious problem among high school students of bandar abbas.