European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

KNOWEDLGE REGARDING HEALTHY LIFE STYLE AMONG ADOLESCENTS STUDYING IN SELECTED COLLEGES AT MANGALURU

Shycil Mathew*, Divya Joseph, Hima Baby, Hima Jacob, Jismy John, Jisna Varkey, Libiya K. B.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The lifestyle of the Adolescents is a major issue in the today’s society and it differs from person to person. An adolescent phase is commonly thought of as a period of optimum health. An unhealthy lifestyle can contribute to the development of risk factors of non communicable diseases (NCDs) Helping adolescents to establish healthy lifestyles and avoid developing health risk behaviors is crucial and should be started before these behaviors are firmly established. Objectives: To assess the level of knowledge regarding healthy lifestyle among adolescents, and to find the association of knowledge score of adolescents on healthy lifestyle with selected demographic variables. Methods: A descriptive research design was adopted for this study. The study sample consists of 100 adolescents selected through simple random sampling technique based on inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, from selected colleges at Mangaluru. A structured knowledge questionnaire was administered to collect data and the collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The result showed that the overall knowledge was average 38 % among subjects regarding healthy lifestyles. There was no significant association between the level knowledge and selected demographic variables except source of information. Conclusion: The adolescent students had only average knowledge regarding healthy life style. The study recommends the need for curriculum-based health education regarding healthy lifestyle practices into their daily lives.

Keywords: Adolescents, Healthy Lifestyle.