| Objective To study the current status of knowledge of osteoporosis (OP) in young college students, and to offer baseline data for further OP healthy education program. Methods A questionnaire was conducted in 1250 low grade college students in a Collage in Guangzhou using a stratified cluster random sampling method. SP SS20.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results The average score of OP knowledge was 16.77±4.288. The awareness rate of the concepts that OP is a childhood disease with pathologic results in older age, low back pain and short in height are clinical manifestation of OP, and low calcium content in in bone soup, was as low as 20.3%, 31.4%, and 30.0%, respectively. There were significant differences of knowledge on OP between different genders and among students with different majors. The scores were higher in female students (17.11±4.037) than in male students (16.17±4.368, t=3.806, P<0.01), and were higher in medical students (16.98±4.061) than in non-medical students (16.21±4.802, t=2.583, P<0.01). Conclusion College students have a poor understanding of OP. In order to strengthen OP healthy education and improve the knowledge level of college students, further education programs are urgently necessary to carry out. |