Health related practices of students of the University of Ibadan

University students are predisposed by environmental factors to adoption of habits that impact on their health Smoking, alcohol abuse, a sedentary lifestyle and failure to use health services appropriately may all impair current or future health. These students represent a large population of young persons but have not been recognised as a specific concern among health care planners except in the area of reproductive health and sexuality. Seven hundred and fifty students of the University of Ibadan were randomly selected from the halls of residence by multi stage sampling. Verbal consent was obtained and trained student peers administered questionnaires to the subjects Seven hundred and twenty-four students returned completed questionnaires, an overall response rate of 96.5% The respondents consisted of 484 males and 240 females Six hundred and two were undergraduate and 122 were graduate students. All the university's faculties were represented. Most (92.3%) of the respondents were single The mean age of the group was 23.8 years (SD 4.6). Current and ever used smoking prevalence was 5.7% and 23.2% respectively. Smokers were predominantly males pursuing degrees in the Arts and Humanities. Current and ever use of alcohol were reported by 24.7% and 46.1% respectively of the students. Main associations with alcohol consumption were with male gender, age less than 30 years, single marital status and non-medical course of study. Only 12 students (1.8%) exercise daily. This study demonstrates the need for continued surveillance of health related habits of young persons, not only for the benefit of the individual students but also for the general population for whom these educated persons represent lifestyle models.