A study to assess the prevalence of behavioral risk factors for lifestyle diseases among late adolescents in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20171360Keywords:
Behavioral risk factors, Lifestyle diseases, AdolescentsAbstract
Background: Lifestyle diseases are now the major causes of premature morbidity, mortality, and economic loss in developed and developing countries, including the younger age groups.The four major preventable behavioral risk factors are tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol. Life of adolescents is a transitional period, offering them good opportunities for establishing health-promoting lifestyles. This study is done to assess the prevalence of behavioral risk factors for lifestyle diseases of college going adolescents of Chennai.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 483 randomly selected undergraduate students from randomly selected colleges in Chennai between March and September 2016 by two stage stratified sampling method using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data was fed into excel sheet and Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was done using SPSS v.21 package.
Results: The participants were between 17 and 20 years. They belonged to professional and non professional colleges. 78% students had unhealthy lifestyle habits. All the participants had at least one risk factor in them. The awareness on the risk factors was significantly less among non professional students, but they had significantly better behavioural habits than the professional students. Boys had significantly better habits than girls and students who were overweight significantly had unhealthy lifestyle habits.
Conclusions: The study reflects the poor lifestyle habits of all college-aged individuals, which can be effectively improved by health education and behaviour change communication.
References
Organisation mondiale de la santé. Global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2014: attaining the nine global noncommunicable diseases targets; a shared responsibility. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014.
Organization WH, others. SEA/RC65/7-Consideration of the recommendations arising out of the technical discussions on Noncommunicable diseases including mental health and neurological disorders"-report of the technical discussions. 2012; Available from: http://repository.searo.who.int/ handle/123456789/16338. Accessed 15 February 2016.
Khuwaja AK, Khawaja S, Motwani K, Khoja AA, Azam IS, Fatmi Z, et al. Preventable Lifestyle Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases in the Pakistan Adolescents Schools Study 1 (PASS-1). J Prev Med Pub Health. 2011;44(5):210–7.
Ziglio E, Currie C, Rasmussen VB. The WHO Cross-National Study of Health Behavior in School-Aged Children from 35 Countries: Findings from 2001–2002. J Sch Health. 2004;74(6):204–6.
Michaud P-A, Suris J-C, Viner R. The adolescent with a chronic condition: epidemiology, developmental issues and health care provision. 2007. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/ handle/10665/43775. Accessed 15 February 2016.
Nugent R. Benefits and Costs of the Non-Communicable Disease Targets for the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Cph Consens Cent [Internet]. 2015. Available from: http://dcp-3.org/sites/default/ files/resources/R%20Nugent%20CC%20Perspective%20Paper.pdf. Accessed 15 February 2016.
Pavanchand D, Radhakumari P, Bhavani GG, Appalanaidu S. Assessment of healthy life style habits among medical students, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam. IOSR-JDMS. 2014;13(12):27-30.
Findings of the National Research on adolescents’ attitude to healthy lifestyle, as well as of their awareness and skills in this area [Internet]. 1st ed. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); 2016. Available from: http://www.unicef.org/ kyrgyzstan/FINDINGS_OF_A_NATIONAL_STUD-eng.pdf#page=2&zoom=auto,-134,310. Accessed 15 February 2016.
Organization WH. WHO STEPS surveillance manual: the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance. 2005;
Younis N. Assessment of healthy lifestyle habits among Mosul university students. Int J Adv Nurs Stud. 2014 Jun 25;3(2). Available from: http:// www.sciencepubco.com/index.php/IJANS/article/view/2593. Accessed 15 February 2016.
Essa HA-EE, El-Shemy MBA. Prevalence of lifestyle associated risk factors for non-communicable diseases and its effect on quality of life among nursing students, faculty of nursing, Tanta University. Int J. 2015;3(5):429–46.
Suraj S, Singh A, others. Study of sense of coherence health promoting behavior in north Indian students. Indian J Med Res. 2011;134(5):645.
Lupi S, Bagordo F, Stefanati A, Grassi T, Piccinni L, Bergamini M, et al. Assessment of lifestyle and eating habits among undergraduate students in northern Italy. Ann DellIstituto Super Sanità. 2015;51(2):154–61.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral risk factor surveillance system survey data. Atlanta, Georgia: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2007;2009.
Vasconcelos HCA de, Marinho NBP, Freitas RWJF de, Ximenes LB, Pinheiro AKB, Damasceno MMC. Risks for non-communicable chronic diseases: A cross-sectional study with undergraduate nursing students. J Nurs Educ Pract. 2012 May 13. Available from: http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/ index.php/jnep/article/view/657. Accessed 15 February 2016.
Raj S, Senjam SS, Singh A. Assessment of Health-Promoting Behavior and Lifestyle of Adolescents of a North Indian City. International Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2013;4(10):1189-93.
Desouky DS, Omar MS, Nemenqani DM, Jabbar J, Tarak-Khan NM. Risk factors of non-communicable diseases among female university students of the Health Colleges of Taif University. Int J Med Med Sci. 2014;6(3):97–1107.
Wright TL. Body Image and Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Among University Students. 2012. Available from: http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ etd/402/. Accessed 15 February 2016.
Rao CR, Darshan B, Das N, Rajan V, Bhogun M, Gupta A. Practice of Physical Activity among Future Doctors: A Cross Sectional Analysis. International Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2012;3(5):365-69.
Schmidt M. Predictors of Self-Rated Health and Lifestyle Behaviours in Swedish University Students. Glob J Health Sci. 2012;4(4).
Wang D, Xing X-H, Wu X-B. Healthy Lifestyles of University Students in China and Influential Factors. Sci World J. 2013;2013:1–10.
