Abstract:
The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of health related behaviours among school going adolescents in the Central Region of Ghana, and explore factors influencing these behaviours. A descriptive cross-sectional design with multistage sampling procedures was used to sample 1,311 school going adolescents. Binary logistic regression was computed to examine the influence of some socio-demographic characteristics of respondents on the prevalence of the health related behaviours. The findings from the study revealed prevalence of the following health related behaviours: cannabis use (9%, n = 122), sexual intercourse (26%, n = 342), cigarette smoking (9%, n = 120), alcohol drinking (42%, n = 554), healthy dietary practices (50%, n = 654), physical inactivity (52%, n = 675) among school going adolescents in the region. The findings also showed geographical location as a significant detenninant of alcohol drinking (OR = 0.69, P = 0.013). In the same vein, gender (OR = 1.36, P = 0.007), academic performance (OR = 2.19, P = 0.001) and geographical location (OR = 1.79, p = 0.001) were significant determinants of healthy dietary practices in the region. Also, age (OR = 1.483, P = .017), gender (OR = 0.65, p = 0.001) and parental communication (OR = 0.69, p = 0.006) were significant determinants of lifetime sexual intercourse. Gender (OR = 0.52, p = 0.001), religious affiliation
(OR = 1.76, p = 0.034), socioeconomic backgrounds (OR = 0.52, p = 0.004) and geographical location (OR = 0.53, p = 0.016) were significant determinants of cannabis usage in the region. Similarly, religious affiliation (OR = 1.70, p = 0.043) and socioeconomic backgrounds (OR = 0.53, p = 0.007) were significant determinants of cigarette smoking among school adolescents. It was concluded that multiple factors were responsible for health related behaviours in the region.
It was therefore recommended that distinctive public health education should focus on both individual and environmental factors of susceptibility and resilience in the region.
