Dimensions of dietary and other health‐related behaviors in a group of Danish adolescents

The relationship between dietary, dental health behaviors, and other health-related behaviors was studied using factor analysis. The study group comprised 234 8th graders from 11 schools in the municipality of Aarhus. A semi-structured interview included 12 items of health behavior (e.g. sugar intake, meal pattern, sports activities, sleeping habits, and consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, vitamin pills, candy, and milk). The analysis is based on the assumption that the 12 observed variables are determined by a reduced number of underlying but unobservable factors. Four dimensions of health behavior which explained 38.6% of the variance between the variables were produced. The four unrotated factors accounted for a varying proportion of the total variance (17.6%, 11.8%, 4.4%, 4.3%, respectively). Factor 1 was denoted "Sugar behavior", factor 2: "Regularity of dietary behavior", factor 3: "Problem behavior" and factor 4: "Spare-time activity". This could imply that the motives underlying sugar consumption are different from those of other health-related behaviors. The present behavioral pattern is consistent with that of other studies in which health behavior has been shown to be multidimensional.