Factors Influencing the Subjective Health and Physical Fitness Perceptions of Korean Adolescents

Adolescence is an important period of growth and development. We aimed to analyz the factors affecting the subjective health and physical fitness perceptions of Korean adolescents.

This cross-sectional study used data from 2,599 Korean adolescents who participated in the Korea National Life and Sports Surveys during 2020-2022, along with secondary data analysis. The study included frequency analysis of the demographic variables and chi-square tests to examine the relationship between the variables and subjective health and fitness perceptions. Multivariate logistic regression was also used to explore the factors affecting adolescent subjective perceptions.

The study revealed significant factors influencing health perceptions in Korean adolescents, including male gender, lack of regular physical activity, adequate rest, adherence to a consistent diet, and use of nutritional supplements (P<0.05).

Key factors, such as rest, diet, and nutritional supplements should be considered while developing policies that support adolescent health. Unfortunately, there has been a decline in the physical activity of adolescents in Korea. Therefore, a variety of physical activity programs that consider the characteristics of each student need to be developed to address adolescent health issues.