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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1484164
This article is part of the Research Topic World Health Day 2024: Frontiers in Public Health presents: "My Health, My Right" View all 11 articles

High Prevalence and Co-occurrence of Modifiable Risk Factors for Non-communicable Diseases Among University Students: A Crosssectional Study

Provisionally accepted
Ipek Cicekli Ipek Cicekli 1*Serap Gokce Eskin Serap Gokce Eskin 2
  • 1 Acıbadem University, Istanbul, Türkiye
  • 2 Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Türkiye

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a major global concern. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors among university students. Methods: This analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted between January and April 2022. A total of 485 students were included in the study. Lifestyle risk variables for NCDs included physical inactivity, low fruit and vegetable consumption, alcohol use, tobacco smoking, being overweight/obese, and sugar sweetened beverages consumption. Results: Our results showed that the most frequent risk factor was insufficient physical activity (89.2 %), followed by low vegetable (70.5 %) and fruit consumption (58.9 %). Overall, more than half of the students (51.2 %) (46.5; 56.0) of the students had four or more risk factors highlighting the urgent need for preventive interventions. The co-occurrence of four or more lifestyle risk factors was significantly greater in students at private universities (aOR: 2.01 95 % CI: 1.2; 3.35), those living in student homes (aOR: 3.57 95 % CI: 1.96; 6.5), and those with fast food preferences when eating outside (a0R: 2.53 95 % CI: 1.62; 3.96). Conclusions: Targeted university-based interventions, such as promoting physical activity, providing affordable nutritious meals, and educating students on healthy lifestyles, are essential to reduce noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk among students. Early action fosters lifelong healthy habits, supports healthy aging, and reduces healthcare costs. Future research should focus on refining these strategies to maximize their impact on university populations.Our findings suggest potential interventions for NCDs, particularly those based on physical activity and nutritional risk factors. Further research is needed to determine the impact of actions on risk factor reduction clustering and intervention-focused methods.

    Keywords: noncommunicable diseases, Risk factors, sedentary behavior, diet; students, prevention and control

    Received: 12 Sep 2024; Accepted: 05 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cicekli and Gokce Eskin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ipek Cicekli, Acıbadem University, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.