Health behaviors among male and female university students in Cambodia: a cross-sectional survey

Background Students go through a transition when they enter university, which involves major individual and contextual changes in every domain of life that may lead to several behavioral and health problems. This paper describes a wide range of health behaviors among male and female university students in Cambodia.

Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2015 among students randomly selected from the Royal University of Phnom Penh and University of Battambang. Health-related behaviors in different domains were collected using a structured questionnaire. Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, or independent Student’s t-test was used as appropriate to describe and compare the variables among male and female students.

Results This study included 1359 students, of whom 50.8% were male, and the mean age was 21.3 years (SD= 2.3). Of the total, 79.5% reported not having any vigorous-intensity activities, 25.9% not having moderate-intensity activities, and 33.5% not having walked continuously for 10 minutes during the past seven days. The prevalence of substance use was low with 38.3% currently drinking alcohol, 1.1% smoking tobacco, and 0.4% using an illicit drug during the past 12 months. About one in ten (10.6%) reported having sexual intercourse, with a mean number of partners of 2.1 (SD= 2.4) during the past 12 months, and 42.4% not using a condom in the last intercourse. Only 7.1% reported having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection in the past 12 months; of whom, 60% sought for treatment. About one-third (33.6%) reported eating fast food once or twice, and 5.3% having it three times or more over the last week. More than half (55.6%) had one to two servings of fruits and vegetables daily, and 9.9% did not eat any fruits and vegetables over the last week.

Conclusions We found that the prevalence of sexual risk behaviors and substance use was plausibly low among university students in this study. However, the rates of inactive lifestyle and unhealthy food consumption were concerning. Public policy and universities should promote healthy behaviors among the students. The interventions may take advantage of and expend upon the good health behaviors and consider gender differences.