Critical Factors for Health Behavior Among University Students: The Role of Health Consciousness, Health Knowledge, and Risk Perception

Background: In an era of sedentary lifestyles and multifaceted health challenges, adopting health behavior (HB) is essential to address the health problems threatening the physical health of university students. This study aimed to explore the factors associated with HB among university students. The University Student Health Behavior Model (USHBM) was developed based on the theory of planned behavior and incorporated health consciousness (HC), health knowledge (HK), and risk perception (RP). Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 384 university students in China. Structural equation modeling was employed to evaluate the hypothesized relationships of the USHBM. Results: HK significantly and directly predicted behavioral intention (BI) (β = 0.421, p < 0.001). Perceived behavioral control (PBC) emerged as the strongest associated factor of BI (β = 0.417, p < 0.001). HC was significantly and positively related to attitude toward behavior (ATT) (β = 0.451, p < 0.001), subjective norm (SN) (β = 0.332, p < 0.001), and PBC (β = 0.357, p < 0.001). Furthermore, RP functioned as an associated factor of HB (β = 0.411, p < 0.001). Additionally, RP was significantly and positively associated with the adoption of HB. Conclusions: The findings provided an in-depth understanding of university students’ HB. According to the findings, practical implications for enhancing university students’ HB were discussed.