A Study On The Influence Of Family Structure On The Health Of Farmers And Herdsmen

The report of the 20th Party Congress points out that the protection of people’s health is a strategic priority for development,and the "Health China 2030" plan outlines that the fundamental aim of building a healthy China is to achieve health for all people because health is not only an indispensable factor for the good development of individuals but also to the development of families and society.This is because health is not only indispensable to the development of individuals,but also the development of families and society.Compared with urban areas,the health problems of farmers and herdsmen in Tibetan areas are more serious,as the natural environment of high altitude and high cold erodes their health,and they also face the risk of congenital plateau chronic diseases.Family is the basic place of farmers’ and herds men’s life and has a close relationship with farmers’ and herds men’s health.The shape of the family can be reflected by family structure,so discussing the influence of family structure on farmers’ and herds men’s health and constructing a family-based health support policy will become an important path to achieve the improvement of farmers’ and herds men’s health.Based on the existing studies related to family structure and health,this paper combines the characteristics of family structure in farming and herding areas in Tibetan-related regions and classifies family structure into three types: nuclear family,direct family,and joint family,based on the criteria of intergenerational relationships and the number of marriages per generation.And drawing on family life cycle theory,health needs theory,and health ecology theory,a generalized hierarchical linear model was constructed for empirical analysis using data from the2021 Lhasa City Farming and Herding Area Livelihood Development Survey to study the influence of family structure on the health of farmers and herders.The empirical study found that,first,the health status of farmers and herders varies by family structure.Second,there are differences between various types of family structures affecting the health of farmers and herders,and there is a negative effect of direct and joint families on farmers’ and herders’ health compared to nuclear families.Third,for adult farmers and herders,there is a cross-level interaction effect between family structure and individual levels,family structure further affects health through its influence on individual characteristics.Fourth,for juvenile and elderly farmers and herders,the cross-level interaction effect between family structure and individual characteristics has no significant effect on health.Based on the results of the empirical analysis,this paper proposes several considerations for the health enhancement of farmers and herders at the social,family,and individual levels: first,to set different health support policies for the various types of structures.Secondly,guiding the traditional Tibetan family ethics should be appropriate with the modern value system,so that family members’ health can be more protected and better adapted to the development of modern society.Finally,to strengthen the health awareness of farmers and herdsmen,to realize that all family members live healthily and actively,and finally to improve the overall health level of farmers and herdsmen.