Health Risk Behaviour among College Students: An Analytical Study

Abstract

Youth and adolescence appears to be one of the healthiest periods of the life course with very low rates of morbidity and mortality due to disease. It is a healthy period in the life-span of an individual, compared to a very young child and the elderly. The adolescent years are not only a time of physical, intellectual and emotional development, but it is also a time when experimentation and exploration in their lifestyles, attitudes, concepts, beliefs and habits are developmentally normal in preparation for the commitments of adulthood. Evidence suggests that it occurs at a higher rate in low-income neighbourhoods, disproportionately among the youth. Although health risk behaviours such as the use of addictive substances, smoking tobacco products in adolescence or early adulthood, it has an effect in later life. Conditions associated with an increase in mortality in later life, e.g. diabetes mellitus, tobacco addiction, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders and lifestyle related cancers, have been identified in India to be influenced by behavioral factors.