Original Article

Health Promoting Behaviors among Reproductive Age Women in Serbia: The Results from a National Health Survey

Abstract

Background: Certain lifestyle characteristics, such as dietary patterns, physical activity, and maintenance of recommended body weight, low-risk alcohol consumption and non-smoking are associated with the lower likelihood for the development of chronic-non communicable disease in the general population. These lifestyles are called health promoting behaviors (HPBs). We aimed to examine the prevalence of the HPBs among the women of reproductive age in Serbia and the factors associated with the compliance with four or more of these behaviors.
Methods: The study was the secondary analysis of the data from the National Health survey in Serbia from 2019 that examined social, health status, mental health (using PHQ-8) and lifestyle characteristics of the general population in Serbia.
Results: The prevalence of compliance with four or more HPBs was 22%. Among the HPBs the most frequent was a non-risky alcohol consumption reported by 2585 participants (99.2%), followed by normal weight (2018-69.2%) and non-smoking (1469-69%), daily fruit and vegetables intake (969-33.2%) and sufficient aerobic PA (216-7.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis with four or more HPBs as an outcome variable showed that the association of compliance with four or more HPBs with tertiary education (OR 1.91, 95% CI: 1.32-2.76) use of prescription medications (OR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.44-0.87) and score on PHQ-8 (OR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.79-0.98).
Conclusion: There is a need for deeper promotion of health-related behaviors among all educational and vocational groups, including health promotion activities at the primary health care level, which is available to the entire population.

1. Bai J, Cui J, Shi F, Yu C (2023). Global Epidemiological Patterns in the Burden of Main Non-Communicable Diseases, 1990-2019: Relationships with Socio-Demographic Index. Int J Public Health, 68:1605502.
2. Our world in data. Disease burden from non-communicable diseases, World, 1990-2019. (2019). Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/disease-burden-from-ncds
3. Richter A, Schienkiewitz A, Starker A, et al (2021). Health-promoting behaviour among adults in Germany - Results from GEDA 2019/2020-EHIS. J Health Monit, 6(3):26-44.
4. Park J, Lee H (2023). The relationship between depression, self-efficacy, social support, and health-promoting behaviors in Korean single-household women. Prev Med Rep, 32:102156.
5. Guinhouya BC, Duclos M, Enea C, Storme L (2022). Beneficial Effects of Maternal Physical Activity during Pregnancy on Fetal, Newborn, and Child Health: Guidelines for Interventions during the Perinatal Period from the French National College of Midwives. J Midwifery Womens Health, 67 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S149-S157.
6. Wang S-M, Dezinno P, Maranets I, Berman MR, Caldwell-Andrews AA, Kain ZN (2004). Low Back Pain During Pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol, 104(1):65–70.
7. Greaves L, Poole N, Brabete AC (2022). Sex, Gender, and Alcohol Use: Implications for Women and Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 19(8):4523.
8. Khan NAJ, Tirona M (2021). An updated review of epidemiology, risk factors, and management of male breast cancer. Med Oncol, 38(4):39.
9. Khmil M, Khmil S, Marushchak M (2020). Hormone imbalance in women with infertility caused by polycystic ovary syndrome: Is there a connection with body mass index? Open Access Maced J Med Sci, 8(8):731–7.
10. Liu B, Xu G, Sun Y, et al (2020). Maternal cigarette smoking before and during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth: A dose–response analysis of 25 million mother–infant pairs. PLoS Med, 17(8): e1003158.
11. Al Kibria GM, Swasey K, Hasan MZ, Sharmeen A, Day B (2019). Prevalence and factors associated with underweight, overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age in India. Glob Health Res Policy, 4:24.
12. Kehoe SH, Dhurde V, Bhaise S, et al (2019). Barriers and Facilitators to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Rural Indian Women of Reproductive Age. Food Nutr Bull, 40(1):87–98.
13. Yiga P, Ogwok P, Achieng J, Auma MD, Seghers J, Matthys C (2021). Determinants of dietary and physical activity behaviours among women of reproductive age in urban Uganda, a qualitative study. Public Health Nutr, 24(12):3624–3636.
14. NCD risk (2017). Available from: https://www.ncdrisc.org/downloads/country-pdf/NCD-RisC%20country%20factsheet%20United%20Kingdom.pdf
15. Đorđić V, Božić P, Milanović I, et al (2019). Guidelines-driven educational intervention promotes healthy lifestyle among adolescents and adults: A serbian national longitudinal study. Medicina (Kaunas), 55(2):39.
16. Smedberg J, Lupattelli A, Mårdby AC, Nordeng H (2014). Characteristics of women who continue smoking during pregnancy: A cross-sectional study of pregnant women and new mothers in 15 European countries. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, 14:213.
17. Lugonja S, Pantic I, Dumic I, Milovanovic T (2021). Alcohol Use by Women in Serbia-A First Report. Alcohol Alcohol, 56(6):689–94.
18. Republic Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut.” Serbian National Health Survey (2019) [Истраживање здравља становништва србије 2019. године]. Belgrade.
19. Eurostat. Eurostat. European Health Interview Survey (2023). Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/european-health-interview-survey
20. Finger JD, Tafforeau J, Gisle L, et al (2015). Development of the European Health Interview Survey - Physical Activity Questionnaire (EHIS-PAQ) to monitor physical activity in the European Union. Arch Public Health, 73:59.
21. Baumeister SE, Ricci C, Kohler S, et al (2016). Physical activity surveillance in the European Union: Reliability and validity of the European Health Interview Survey- Physical Activity Questionnaire (EHIS-PAQ). Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act, 13:61.
22. Bull FC, Al-Ansari SS, Biddle S, et al (2020). World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Br J Sports Med, 54(24):1451–62.
23. Tabacchi G, Garbagnati F, Wijnhoven TMA, Cairella G (2019). Dietary assessment methods in surveillance systems targeted to adolescents: A review of the literature. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 29(8):761–774.
24. Dow ML, Szymanski LM (2020). Effects of Overweight and Obesity in Pregnancy on Health of the Offspring. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am, 49(2):251–63.
25. Fleary SA, Joseph P, Pappagianopoulos JE (2018). Adolescent health literacy and health behaviors: A systematic review. J Adolesc, 62:116–27.
26. Cockerham WC, Hamby BW, Oates GR (2017). The Social Determinants of Chronic Disease. Am J Prev Med, 52(1S1):S5–S12.
27. Michie S, Yardley L, West R, Patrick K, Greaves F (2017). Developing and evaluating digital interventions to promote behavior change in health and health care: Recommendations resulting from an international workshop. J Med Internet Res,19(6):e232.
28. Yun JY, Yun YH (2023). Health-promoting behavior to enhance perceived meaning and control of life in chronic disease patients with role limitations and depressive symptoms: a network approach. Sci Rep, 13(1):4848.
Files
IssueVol 53 No 9 (2024) QRcode
SectionOriginal Article(s)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v53i9.16457
Keywords
Health promoting behaviors Physical activity Alcohol Weight Diet Smoking Women
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Todorovic J, Stamenkovic Z, Nesic D, Vojvodic K, Stevanovic A, Piperac P, Dugalic S, Gojnic M, Terzic- Supic Z. Health Promoting Behaviors among Reproductive Age Women in Serbia: The Results from a National Health Survey. Iran J Public Health. 2024;53(9):2040-2048.