Gender Differences in Health Practices in Middle Adolescent Boys and Girls

Abstract

The purposes of this study are to examine responses to the revised ALP in a sample of urban middle adolescents and to further analyze these responses according to gender. The study of health practices of adolescents has gained increased attention over the past several decades and the knowledge gained from these studies has been vital in promoting health during early, middle, and late adolescents. This descriptive-comparative study is part of a larger research project on health-related outcomes in adolescents. The study focuses on a detailed analysis of one instrument used in the study, the ALP-R2. The final sample of convenience consisted of the 311 participants who completed the instrument packets that included the ALP-R2. An independent t- test determined that adolescent boys (M =121.02) had a higher mean score on the total ALP-R2 than adolescent girls (M = 114.99) at a statistically significant level (t(308) = 2.57, p = .01. The findings of this study demonstrated that adolescent girls practiced fewer health-promoting behaviors than adolescent boys, making them a vulnerable population. Outreach measures by healthcare professionals, especially school nurses and physicians are needed and might best be practiced in school settings that are less threatening environments than offices or clinics. School nurses and physicians, and other healthcare professionals can capitalize on the recommendation that schools are in a unique position to foster healthy eating habits. First and foremost, health care professionals, including nurses and doctors, need to take the leadership in addressing better culturally relevant nutrition among adolescents. Healthcare professionals, specifically school nurses, can work with teachers to put into place comprehensive and grade-related health education curricula whereby students learn about health eating behaviors.