Type 2 diabetes risk and health-promoting behaviours among health sciences students: a cross-sectional analysis using...

The global burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus has continued to increase, and early signs of behavioural risk are now being detected even in young adults. Understanding these risks in student populations is important for the development of early prevention strategies. This study aimed to evaluate type 2 diabetes risk and investigate its association with health-promoting behaviour domains, body mass index, and selected demographic characteristics among health sciences students.

A cross-sectional study was carried out during the 2023-2024 academic year with 260 students enrolled in health sciences programmes. Data were gathered through a sociodemographic form, FINDRISC, and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II). Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference) were obtained using standard procedures. Descriptive analyses, correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression analysis were conducted to examine associations between FINDRISC scores and demographic characteristics, body mass index, and HPLP-II subdomains.

The sample included 260 students (mean age: 23.63 ± 4.38 years; 68.8% female) from nutrition and dietetics, nursing, and social work programs. The mean FINDRISC score was 5.50 ± 3.56, and 70.4% of students were classified as low risk. The mean HPLP-II total score (122.52 ± 30.79) suggested a moderate level of health-promoting behaviours, with the highest scores in spiritual growth and interpersonal relations and the lowest in physical activity and stress management. Although overall HPLP-II scores were not significantly correlated with FINDRISC scores, specific subdomains, particularly physical activity, showed significant associations after adjustment for demographic characteristics and body mass index. Higher BMI was associated with increased FINDRISC scores (B = 0.431, p < 0.001), whereas higher physical activity scores were associated with lower FINDRISC scores (B = -0.159, p = 0.011). The model explained 27.3% of the variance (adjusted R² = 0.273).

Although the students generally reported moderate levels of health-promoting behaviour, higher body mass index and lower physical activity levels were associated with higher diabetes risk scores in this group. These findings suggest that universities may benefit from supporting students in developing sustainable physical activity habits and maintaining healthy body weight as part of diabetes risk prevention strategies. Further longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the direction and underlying mechanisms of these associations.