A Survey on Health Behavior of Chinese Foreign Students in Japan

Abstract

Objective
The number of foreign students coming to Japan continues to increase year by year. The majority of those students are from China. Besides social problems and insurance difficulties, cultural differences are an underlying cause of their health problem. The aim of our research is to evaluate the health behavior and health status of students from China who are living in Japan with the objective of providing recommendations for improvement of health care.
Method
A survey of students was conducted using questionnaires. The target for this study is Chinese students compared with domestic students at the same university in Japan. The contents of the questionnaire are related to; attribute attitude toward health and sickness, belief in health, mental and physical health status, social support, health behavior, and fitness activity.
Results
The rate of collected questionnaires was 35.7% (107/300) from Chinese students and 47.7% (143/300) from Japanese students. The average age of Chinese students was 24.5 years old and average duration of their stay was three years. Chinese students had high consciousness about maintaining good health. They obtained social support from friends, parents, acquaintances, family members other than parents and not much was obtained from school related people. As for health habit, female students were more likely to practice good health habits than males.
Conclusions
1. Chinese students had high consciousness about maintaining good health.
2. Chinese students living in a foreign culture are highly aware and concerned about their health status but they are not in a position to obtain sufficient social support from university. It is vital for them to secure imminent social supports from now on.
3. Differences in responses by gender were evident in the group related to health habits.