Correlates of health-promotion activities in employed Mexican American women

The purposes of this study were to describe the health-promoting lifestyle behaviors of 397 employed Mexican American women and to compare them with women in other published reports that used the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP). Mexican American women had the highest HPLP total scores of all minority groups, but lower scores than all predominantly White groups. HPLP self-actualization and interpersonal support were the highest subscale scores. The exercise subscale was the lowest score for all groups, including minorities. Canonical analysis revealed two significant canonical variate pairs explaining 88% of variance. Age, educational, self-efficacy, health locus of control (internal and powerful others), and current health status made statistically significant contributions to all HPLP subscale scores. Study results support previous research findings and make and important contribution to understanding the factors that influence Mexican American women's health-promoting lifestyle behaviors.