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International Journal of Recent Trends in Science and Technology, ISSN 2277-2812 E-ISSN: 2249-8109

Volume 7, Issue 2, June 2013 pp 82-85

Research Article

Risk factors for Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) among High School Students in an Urban Setting

 Chaitanya Gujjarlapudi¹, Kasyapa V. B. ², Ravinder A.³

{¹Assistant Professor, ²Internee, ³Lecturer in Biostatistics}

Academic Editor : Dr. Aher K.R.

Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) are showing an increasing trend especially in the developing countries. These countries are at an economic and nutrition transition. The rise in NCDs is mainly attributed to change in dietary habits, sedentary lifestyles and increasing obesity. The key to the control of epidemics of NCD’s is primary prevention. The basis of prevention of NCD’s is therefore identification of the major risk factors and their prevention and control. The objective of the present study is to assess selected risk factors for Non Communicable Diseases among High School children in Guntur city of Andhra Pradesh. Information concerning the life styles and potential risk factors for the Non Communicable Diseases was collected by a self administered questionnaire which was developed based on the WHO STEPS questionnaire and the Global School Health Survey (GSHS) questionnaire.A total of 925 high school children participated in the study. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the present study are 4.3% and 1.7% respectively. A high prevalence of factors for Non communicable diseases have been observed i.e. taking carbonated drinks > three times per week (30.2%), exposure to cigarette smoke (75.5%), no physical activity (21.8%). The study suggests that awareness regarding risk factors by health education and interventions promoting healthy life style are important to prevent NCD’s in future.