The study on lifestyle and self-esteem of Japanese and Chinese university students

Abstract

　The authors considered that the lifestyle of university students is a key factor that influences their healthy situation on school days and their later life. This study was conducted using an anonymous questionnaire to understand the lifestyle and self-esteem of university students. The questionnaire was translated into Chinese since we had a good opportunity for surveying Chinese students, and then made comparisons between Japanese and Chinese students.　The study conducted a survey among 374 first-, second-, and third-grade Japanese students (310 males and 64 females) from the A private university in Fukuoka, Japan, and 257 first-, second-, and third-grade Chinese students (64 males and 193 females) from the B university in Dalian, China. It was done during late November, 2013, and early January, 2014.　The second- and third- grade Chinese female students had higher breakfast intakes than the second- and third- grade Japanese students (p＜0.01). As for the intake of fast food and exercise habits, the Japanese students lived a more desirable lifestyle than the Chinese students. As for their daily bedtime and sleeping habits, the Chinese students lived a more desirable lifestyle than the Japanese students. Most Chinese students lived in the dormitory without part-time work, while nearly half of the Japanese students did part-time work. There was no significant difference between the Japanese and Chinese students in learning motivation, however, the attendance rate of classes was higher in the Chinese students than the Japanese students (p＜0.01). The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale scores of the Japanese students were about 25 points, while the Chinese students had scores of about 30 points (p＜0.01).