The assessment of the diabetes mellitus among adolescent students in secondary schools within Westlands District

Abstract

Background: Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD’s) have been an under estimated cause of poverty globally especially in developing countries. Among these NCD’s, diabetes has become one of the leading health problems. This can be seen from its rising global prevalence from 171million in 2000 to 285million by 2010 and a projection of 483 million people by 2030. Reports by the World Health Organization (WHO) put the prevalence of diabetes in Africa at about 7million and an increase to about 18.2million by 2030. The goal of this study was to determine the knowledge on diabetes mellitus among adolescent students in Westlands district. Specifically, it established the knowledge of the adolescent students on risk factors associated with diabetes and diabetes management practices among the adolescent students. Methodology: This was cross-sectional study that targeted 7800 students aged between 12 to 19 years. A sample of 271 students was sampled randomly using stratified random sampling technique. For each student selected was interviewed using a structured questionnaire administered by the researcher. The data collected was then entered using SPSS version 17.0 and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: The findings showed that 34% of the students were diabetic. Most of the diabetic students were aged 16 years and above and weighed 57 kgs and above. Significant number of students (31.1%) was overweight and most of them came from well off families (78%). Among the risk factors investigated; stigma, knowledge level, family history were significantly associated with occurrence of diabetes mellitus among students while BMI, physical activities and nutritional behaviour were not. Very few, (29%) of the students sought for medical examinations as a management practice. Conclusion and Recommendations: There are adolescent students with diabetes mellitus. In addition, very few students sought management practices. It was recommended that the Ministries of Health and Education should start increasing awareness and screening of the students for diabetes so that early management can be done.