ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Globally, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are now the leading causes of morbidity and mortality accounting for 74% of all deaths worldwide and more than half of this figure are recorded in developing countries including Nigeria. Persistent exposure to the four main behavioural risk factors of NCDs- tobacco smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity, poor dietary pattern are commonplace among adolescents and these have lifelong consequences even to adulthood. It is against this background that this study aimed to examine the prevalence and pattern of these behavioural risk factors as well as the knowledge of NCDs among in-school adolescents in Benin City METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried our among 625 in-school adolescents in Benin City selected using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using structured self-administered questionnaires adapted from the WHO STEPS surveillance manual and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 27.0. The descriptive data were expressed in frequencies, percentages, means + standard deviation. The association between the sociodemographic data and the knowledge of the behavioural risk factors, prevalence and pattern were analyzed using chi square test. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval. Results were presented in prose, tables, pie chart and bar charts. RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 14.75± 2.0 years, and majority of them were male 428 (58.5%). The largest group of respondents were in senior secondary school 2 (SS2) 191 (30.6%), and significant majority of respondents came from families where the parents were married 558 (89.3%). The findings illustrated that a majority of the respondents were aware of NCDs 545 (87.2%) with school or lectures being the primary source of information 316 (58.0%). There was also good knowledge of NCDs among the respondents 382 (70.1). Respondents aged 16–19 years had the highest percentage of good knowledge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at 21.5%, while those aged 11–13 years had the lowest at 7.9%. Good knowledge of NCDs was xv significantly associated with age (p < 0.001).There was no significant association between sex and knowledge of NCDs, with 14.1% of male respondents and 13.6% of female respondents showing good knowledge (χ² = 0.029; p = 0.895). Regarding vegetable consumption, only 3.6% consume five servings per day, on salt consumption, 3.0% of respondents consumed too much salt. For moderate-intensity activities, 265 (42.4%) reported no activity days per week, A significant majority, 478 (76.5%), reported sitting or reclining for more than 2 hours a day. On alcohol consumption, 106 (41.2%) indicated they had stopped drinking due to health reasons, while 151 (58.8%) stated they had not. Out of a total of 625, only 37 (5.9%) reported currently smoking tobacco products, while a significant majority, 588 (94.1%), indicated that they do not smoke. Furthermore, 383 (61.3%) reported having three risk factors, while 183 (29.2%) had two risk factors. In contrast, 18 (2.9%) of respondents had one risk factor, and only 1 (0.2%) reported having none. CONCLUSION: The study found that almost two-thirds of adolescents had inadequate physical activity a trend largely driven by urbanization and lifestyle changes. In terms of the prevalence of NCD-related indices, the study found that almost one-fifth of adolescents were overweight, and a smaller but significant proportion had high blood pressure. Finding from this study should help stengthen the need for early detection and intervention. Schools should therefore implement comprehensive screening programs to regularly monitor students’ health and address multiple risk factors early, which could significantly reduce the future public health burden of NCDs. KEYWORDS: NCDs, adolescents, knowledge, attitude, behavioural risk factors, high blood pressure, prevalence.
