TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - The age of opportunity: prevalence of key risk factors among adolescents 10-19 years of age in nine communities in sub-Saharan Africa
JO  - Tropical medicine and international health
A1  - Berhane, Yemane
A1  - Canavan, Chelsey R.
A1  - Marie Darling, Anne
A1  - Sudfeld, Christopher R.
A1  - Vuai, Said
A1  - Adanu, Richard
A1  - Bärnighausen, Till
A1  - Dessie, Yadeta
A1  - Nnakate Bukenya, Justine
A1  - Guwatudde, David
A1  - Killewo, Japhet
A1  - Sando, Mary M.
A1  - Sié, Ali
A1  - Oduola, Ayoade M. J.
A1  - Fawzi, Wafaie W.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To measure health-related behaviors and risk factors among sub-Saharan African adolescents. <br><br>METHODS: Ccross-sectional study in nine communities in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda between 2015 and 2017. Community-representative samples of males and females 10-19 years of age were selected. All communities used a uniform questionnaire that was adapted from the WHO Global School-based Student Health Survey. Weighted prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each indicator and stratified by age and sex using SAS version 9.4. All prevalence estimates were pooled across communities through random-effects meta-analyses in Stata version 14. <br><br>RESULTS: 8,075 adolescents participated in the study. We observed a high prevalence of inadequate fruit consumption (57-63%) and low physical activity (82-90%); a moderate prevalence of inadequate vegetable consumption (21-31%), unprotected last sex (38-45%), age at first sex <15 years (21-28%), and bullying and physical fighting (12-35%); and a low prevalence of mental health risk factors (1-11%), and alcohol and substance use risk factors (0-6%). We observed a moderate to high prevalence of daily soft drink consumption (21-31%) for all adolescents. Among sexually active adolescents 15-19 years, 37.0% of females reported ever being pregnant and 8.0% of males reported to have ever made someone pregnant. Bullying (23%) and physical fighting were more common among younger male adolescents (35%). The prevalence of low mood was generally higher among older (15-19 years) than younger adolescents (10-14 years). The proportion of adolescents reporting alcohol, drug, or cigarette use was very small, with the exception of khat use in Ethiopia. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Overall, diet and physical activity, violence, sexual and reproductive health, and depression are important risk factors for these sub-Saharan African communities. These findings suggest that more evidence is needed including novel efforts for the collection of sensitive information, as well as a need to move toward community-tailored interventions to reach adolescent populations with varying needs.<br><br>© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1360-2276
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tmi.13339
ID  - ref1
ER  -