The Change of Importance of Healthy and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors in X, Y, Z Generations

Background: Along with the increasing number of diseases in a changing society, the importance of health and healthy lifestyle behaviors is increasing daily among people. Objective: According to generations, research was conducted to determine the change in individuals’ perceptions of health importance and healthy lifestyle behaviors. Method: Descriptive-relational study data was conducted with 456 individuals in the X, Y, and Z generations living in a Family Health Center region in Konya province. The study was conducted with equal participants from each generation. The data were collected using the Questionnaire Form, the perceived generational knowledge, the Importance of Health Scale and the Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors II Scale. The data were summarized as mean and standard deviation, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, chi-square analysis, and multiple regression analysis were used in the evaluations. Results: 50.7% of the participants were women, and 78.7% lived in the city for the longest time. 34.9% of the participants finished high school, 72.8% perceived their economic status as moderate, 55.9% were married, and 50.4% had children. According to perceived generation information, 51.3% of individuals stated Generation X characteristics. The average score of the participants on the importance of The Health Scale is 8.30± 2.31, and the total average score on Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale is 134.17± 21.22. A significant association was found between The Scale of Importance of Health and age, educational status, marital status, and the number of children. A significant correlation was found between the number of children on The Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale (p< 0.05). Conclusion: It was also found that belonging to generation Y and Z by age for The Health Importance Scale and being perceived as generation Y for The Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale were negative determinants. Therefore, when organizing health promotion programs for individuals, it should be considered that the generation to which they feel they belong is important in addition to the generation information according to age.