Abstract
Background: Numerous studies have found significant gender differences in health-related behaviour, while a lowernumber analyse these differences within the gender. The aim of the article is to analyse the differences in individualhealth-related behaviour indicators among women from different educational groups in Slovenia.
Methods: The analysis is based on the CINDI Health Monitor (2008) survey for Slovenia. The nationally representativesample was chosen using probability sampling and the analysis included 4,237 women aged 25 to 74. The independentvariables are: education, in consideration of age, community type, region of residence, the presence of a partner andchildren and self-perceived social class. The dependent variables are health-related behaviours: nutrition, physicalactivity, sleeping, stress and care for own health. By comparing averages in health-related behaviour with educationand other factors and by classifying participants into homogenous groups, we were able to show differences inhealth-related behaviour in women with different educational attainment.
Results: Individual health-related behaviour indicators show statistically significant differences between groups ofwomen with different educational attainment; however these are neither very distinct nor unambiguous. Womenwith a higher educational attainment evaluate the majority of the indicators more favourably than women in othereducational groups, but differences can also be found within the group of women with a higher educational attainment.The differences in the health-related behaviour of women with a lower educational attainment are relatively blurred.
Conclusion: The relatively small differences in health-related behaviour can be partially explained by existingdifferences within the group of women with a higher educational attainment and the fact that the group of womenwith the lowest educational attainment does not have the worst health-related behaviour indicators, which affects thegreater equality in health-related behaviour. On the other hand, the well-established universal and targeted familyand child care policies, which have been implemented in Slovenia for decades, also affect these results.