Healthy lifestyle as a preventive measure against victimization among school-going adolescents

Bullying and violence are problems of aggression in adolescents. Healthy lifestyle practices are common health promotion approaches in school settings; however, their association with aggressive behaviours in school-going adolescents is less explored.

This study examined the associations of healthy lifestyle behaviours including good hygiene, physical activity, recommended diet and refrainment from tobacco use with bully victimization and violence among adolescents.

Data were obtained from the Global School Health Survey conducted in Pakistan (2009). The study population consisted of school-going adolescents aged 13 to 15 years. We constructed our final dataset using information from 4102 participants. Association of healthy lifestyle behaviours with bully victimization and violence experience were assessed using multivariate logistic regression.

Results indicate lower odds of being bullied (good hygiene: OR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.50-0.76, P <0.001; physical activity: OR=0.55, 95% CI 0.40-0.75, P <0.001; abstinence from tobacco: OR=0.43, 95% CI 0.30-0.63, P <0.001) and lower odds of violence (good hygiene: OR=0.68, 95% CI 0.55-0.84, P <0.001; physical activity: OR=0.55, 95% CI 0.43-0.71, P <0.001; abstinence from tobacco: OR=0.48, 95% CI 0.32-0.72, P <0.001), after controlling for socio-demographic and potential confounding factors.

Our study supports the significance of healthy lifestyle as a preventive measure against victimization. Anti-bullying programmes focusing on social-emotional skill development may also consider promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviours among adolescents, aiming at reducing victimization and its related consequences.