HEALTH IMPACTING BEHAVIOUR OF SCHOOL GOING ADOLESCENT STUDENTS IN SUNDER NAGAR, DISTRICT MANDI, HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

Dr. Muskan, *Dr. Dinesh Kumar and Dr. Manoj Kumar

ABSTRACT

Background: Globally, there are approximately 1.2 billion adolescents, between 10 and 19 years of age. In India, adolescents account for roughly 21% of the total population. Targeting this group allows for early identification of knowledge gaps and behavioural patterns that may influence long-term health. The present study attempts to investigate health impacting behaviour of school-going adolescents aged 14-19 and to identify the prevalence of risk factors of hypertension and diabetes. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 182 students selected from four schools in Sunder Nagar, located in District Mandi of Himachal Pradesh, India. by using stratified random sampling technique. Results: Study included 182 adolescent students aged 14–19 years. Majority of respondents were female (65.93%, n=120). Maximum participants were from Class 12 (26.4%), followed closely by Classes 9 and 10 (25.3% each), while Class 11 had the fewest participants (23.1%). Most participants engaged in physical activity sometimes (N = 63, 34.6%), education. Out of 182 participants, most participants reported experiencing moderate stress levels (N=89, 48.9%), with similar proportions among males (N=28, 46.7%) and females (N=61, 50.0%). The most common leisure activity among participants was using social media (31.3%), Out of 182 participants, the majority reported having high (37.9%) or very high (26.4%) sleep quality. More females (N = 48, 39.3%) than males (N = 21, 35.0%) reported high sleep quality, while only a small proportion experienced low (7.7%) or very low (2.2%) sleep quality. Association between knowledge of healthy health impacting choices and gender was not significant (P = 0.224). Out of 182 participants, the most reported challenge in maintaining a healthy health impacting was lack of knowledge about healthy habits (N=64, 35.2%), followed by difficulty finding healthy food options (N=54, 29.7%) and lack of time (N=51, 28.0%). Conclusions and Suggestions: Study concluded that awareness and life impacting behaviour of adolescent students concerning diabetes and hypertension in studied population is far from satisfactory. Gender played a role in shaping awareness and health impacting choices for hypertension and diabetes. The study highlights the urgent need for structured, age-appropriate, and engaging health education for adolescents. Involvement of health professionals in health literacy programs in schools can play a vital role in improving adolescent health literacy and promoting long-term healthy behaviours to reduce the risk of hypertension and diabetes.

Keywords: Adolescents; Diabetes; Health Impacting Behaviour; Hypertension; Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD).