Lifestyle practices predisposing adolescents to non communicable diseases in Delhi

Globally the prevalence of non- communicable diseases is on a rise. Adolescents are vulnerable to such diseases later on in life because of the susceptibility to behavioural risk factors like insufficient physical activity, unhealthy dietary practices and tobacco and alcohol consumption during this transition stage of their life. Adolescents who are from low-income families are also at increased risk of dual states of malnutrition such as underweight and obesity. So, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of such behavioural risk factors among adolescents of low-income urban areas of Delhi.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 264 adolescents (10-19 years) of low-income Urban areas of Delhi.

A total of 122 (46.2%) boys and 142 (53.8%) girls were enrolled in the study. The mean age of adolescents were 14.2 ± 2.4 years. The most prevalent NCD risk factor was physical inactivity (98.1% [96.4-99.7])). The screen time for television was significantly higher among boys than girls ( An age stratified analysis of risk factors showed that the intake of carbonated drinks (p value 0.026) and social media utilisation time (p value 0.037) was significantly higher among late adolescent boys (≥15 years) compared to early adolescents.

There is high prevalence of physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary behaviours among adolescents which could be a warning sign for prompt actions as they are at risk of NCD in future. Hence healthier practices should be promoted among adolescents at community level.