Harmful health behaviours among University Students in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

University students face various challenges on entering the university. They also become vulnerable to harmful health behaviours that could lead to many psychological, physical and social health consequences. This study aimed at determining harmful health behaviours among a sample of university students in Lagos, Nigeria. First and final year students of the department of psychology of the University of Lagos were recruited for this study. Apart from filling the socio-demographic characteristics form, the participants also completed a self-reported questionnaire on harmful health behaviours on substance use, nutrition, traffic, violence and physical violence. A total of 187 participants took part in the study. Of the participants, 104(55.6%) were from the first year while 83 (44.3%) were in the final year. The findings on all harmful factors were mostly positive. The body mass index of the participants showed that 27.9% of the males and 25.5% of the females in the first year and 40.6% of males and 25% of the females in the final year classes recorded BMIs higher than 25 kg/m2. However, apart from the question of being driven in a car by drunken driver in the previous month that was statistically significant, all other harmful health behaviours were not statistically significant. This study showed that harmful health behaviour was prevalent among the studied university students. The male participants in the first year showed higher risks compared to male participants in final year. The university policy makers should formulate polices on preventing or reducing harmful health behaviour among university students especially in those in their early years.

Key words: Harmful Health Behaviours, University Students, Lagos, Nigeria