Do Internet Users Lead a Healthier Lifestyle?

Internet use has spread rapidly worldwide in recent years, but the proportion of older people who use it remains low in Taiwan. Meanwhile, due to population aging in the country, chronic diseases have become more prevalent among older people. This study explores the link between exposure to the Inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of applied gerontology Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 277 - 284
Main Authors Peng, Yu-I, Chan, Yun-Shan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.03.2020
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Aging
Chronic illnesses
Internet
Intoxication
Lifestyles
Older people
Smoking
Social change
Weighting
Taiwan
exercise
healthy lifestyle
health behaviors
internet
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Summary:Internet use has spread rapidly worldwide in recent years, but the proportion of older people who use it remains low in Taiwan. Meanwhile, due to population aging in the country, chronic diseases have become more prevalent among older people. This study explores the link between exposure to the Internet and adoption of a healthy lifestyle among the middle-aged and elderly people. Data are drawn from the Topic on Health of the 2011 Taiwan Social Change Survey. We use the logistic regression as the baseline model and apply the propensity-score weighting method to identify the effect of Internet use on exercising, vegetable and fruit eating, betel nut chewing, smoking, and heavy drinking. Our results show that people aged 40 years and older who use the Internet regularly are more likely to adopt an overall healthy lifestyle. The findings suggest that the Internet is a good channel to enhance people’s health investment.
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ISSN:0733-4648
1552-4523
DOI:10.1177/0733464818785797