Mainland Chinese students' concept of health

This investigation, which was part of a larger project, was to describe and explain the concept of health as perceived by Chinese students. Data were collected through a questionnaire from students from two primary schools, two high schools and two universities (N=946) in Shanghai, China. The results showed that Chinese students not only considered themselves healthy but also viewed adolescents as the healthiest people in comparison with children, the middle and the old-aged. Their health concept consisted of components relating to physical, psychological, and social/moral dimensions. There were more boys than girls who considered mental health to be part of general health and a tendency for boys to perceive health status as poorer along with the increase in age. The categories of the concept of health and students' views on how to enhance health status are presented.