Frequency and Awareness of Risk Factors of Non-Communicable Diseases among University Students in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. This study has evaluated the frequency of the risk factors of NCDs and its awareness among students in a University in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 374 female students of Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University in Wadi Al Dawaser, Saudi Arabia. The study was carried out for a duration of six months, from August 2019 to January 2020. Standard self-administered questionnaire, anthropometric and biochemical parameters were used for data collection, analysed through SPSS version 20.0. RESULTS: The mean age of the students was 20.6 years. The results showed that 64.7% of students were physically inactive, 52.4% spend more than two hours watching TV. The intake of adequate amount of fruits (14%) and vegetables (6.8%) was very little.. Junk food was consumed >11 times per week by 37.1%. The prevalence of overweight and severe obesity was 25.9% and 5.1% respectively. Blood sugar analysis showed 1.1% had pre-diabetes and 0.8% had diabetes. About 56.2% of students had no knowledge about NCDs and their risk factors. CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of risk factors for NCDs was found among students. Awareness programs about healthy lifestyle practices; periodic screening of school and college students at regular intervals with appropriate advice are warranted to control the rising epidemic of NCDs.