A Survey of Environmental Health Literacy About the Hazy Weather Among Residents in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

Objective To investigate the environmental health literacy about the hazy weather among residents in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, to provide a reference for future promotion and education of environmental health, and to provide a basis for the government to formulate environmental health policy.

Methods We distributed the Questionnaire on Residents' Environmental Health literacy about heavy pollution weather on the WeChat public platform to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding heavy pollution weather in residents of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Results A total of 1 317 valid questionnaires were collected, and 6.76% respondents scored more than 70 points. There was a significant difference in environmental health literacy level between residents with different education levels (χ²=16.01, P < 0.05). Only 0.53% (7/1 317) of the total respondents correctly answered all the questions about the basic knowledge of haze protection; 6.15% (81/1 317) correctly answered all the questions about basic attitudes towards haze protection; 17.39% (229/1 317) could take effective measures to protect themselves from the hazy weather. The basic attitude was significantly associated with the occurrence of effective protective behaviors (r=0.124).

Conclusion Residents in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region show poor environmental health literacy about the hazy weather. It is necessary to carry out effective promotion and education of environmental health, especially among the key population, so as to improve their environmental health literacy.