Publication:

Socio-demographic correlates of awareness of diabetes and hypertension among teenage students in Sunder Nagar District Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India

Background Adolescents are forming long-term health habits throughout this time. Prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) requires early awareness, especially of diabetes and hypertension. Objective was to assess awareness of teenager students regarding risk factors of diabetes and hypertension. To investigate socio-demographic characteristics of students that influence awareness patterns.

Methods A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in Sunder Nagar, Himachal Pradesh during January 2025 to June 2025. Total 182 school going teenagers aged 14-19 years were included as selected by stratified random sampling.   A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic factors, diabetes and hypertension awareness, and health-related information sources. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were used for analysis in SPSS version 26.0.

Results Majority of respondents (95.6%) had some understanding of hypertension, whereas awareness of diabetes was lower, with 79.7% having minimal knowledge and 4.9% having none. No significant gender differences in awareness levels were found (p>0.05). Age was significantly associated with hypertension awareness (p=0.031). Family and friends (34.6%) were the most frequent sources of health information, followed by healthcare professionals (28.6%) and schools (22.0%).

Conclusions The study identifies significant gaps in awareness among teenagers for diabetes and hypertension irrespective of their socio-demographic characteristics. It emphasizes the importance of structured, school-based health education programs to increase knowledge and promote healthy behaviours of young adolescent students. It will be helpful in minimizing India's future burden of NCDs.