Determinants of health-promoting lifestyles amongst Indian University students

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in young Indians underscores a compelling need to instil healthy lifestyles in adolescents and young adults. The present study aimed to assess the health-promoting lifestyles of freshmen admitted to institutes under seven different faculties of an international university in India. The study was conducted across five Indian cities and recruited 4253 participants pursuing both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Information on socio-demographic factors and health-promoting lifestyle behaviours using a modified Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) scale was collected. The total HPLP and sub-scale scores for six domains were estimated. Univariate and age and gender-adjusted multivariate analyses were conducted to identify the determinants of health-promoting lifestyle scores. Gender-wise distribution of total HPLP and subscale scores indicated significant differences between female and male university students except for spiritual growth (P = 0.300). Overall, female students secured significantly higher total HPLP scores than male students (139.8 vs 137.6, P=0.000). Multivariate models showed that students from the faculties of Management and Law 3.15 (CI: 1.61, 4.68) and Humanities and Social sciences 4.90 (CI: 3.24, 6.58) had lower total HPLP scores compared to students of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) faculty. The faculty, zone, and residential status predicted nutrition sub-scale scores. Interestingly, students from North zone campuses (b − 0.62 (CI: −0.92, −0.32)) than west zone, and international students (b − 1.18 (CI: −2.11, −0.24)) compared to domestic students had lower nutrition sub-scale scores. Gender and faculty-specific targeted interventions could promote the healthy lifestyles of young Indian University students.