Survey of health literacy among college students in Beijing City

Objective To understand the status of health literacy and its factors among college students health literacy in Beijing City,and to provide the evidence for contents and patterns of health education for college students.Methods Stratified cluster random sampling method was used to recruit 905 students from six schools as investigation subjects.Results The proportion of students who had held health literacy was 24.75%.The holding rate of health belief,the forming rate of health behavior and the mastering rate of health skill were 41.77%,13.37% and 73.04% respectively.The holding rate of health literacy among medical college students was the highest one(41.92%).The next level was 18.01%of the arts college students.The rate of science students was the lowest one(12.55%).The holding rate of health literacy among female students(27.88%) was higher than that of male students(20.66%).The holding rate of health literacy among students from urban areas was higher than that of students from rural areas.The major and origin of college students were relate to the health literacy level.Conclusion The health literacy holding rate of college students is low although the rate is higher than that of 15-25 age group population,and the health behavior holding rate is lower than the rates of other two aspects health literacy among college students.Cultivation of health literacy should be integrated into students health education,especially the health literacy of health behavior and lifestyle.