Public Awareness of Nutrition-Related Non-Communicable Disease Prevention in Adults
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Non-communicable diseases are increasing rapidly in Pakistan, and unhealthy dietary practices are major modifiable contributors to diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Public awareness is essential for prevention, yet local evidence from Quetta regarding practical nutrition literacy remains limited. Objective: To assess public awareness of nutrition-related prevention of non-communicable diseases among adults attending selected tertiary hospitals in Quetta, Pakistan, and to identify socio-demographic factors associated with awareness. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 adults selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire covering socio-demographic characteristics, nutrition-related knowledge, perceived personal risk, sources of information, and need for public education. Awareness scores were categorized as poor, moderate, or good. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used for analysis, with p<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: Of 384 participants, 216 (56.3%) were male and 243 (63.3%) were urban residents. Correct responses were highest for excess sugar intake and diabetes risk (78.6%) and frequent oily/fried food and obesity (74.5%), but lower for hidden salt and sugar in packaged foods (46.6%), food label reading (44.5%), and fiber-rich foods (42.4%). Overall, 104 participants (27.1%) had poor awareness, 182 (47.4%) had moderate awareness, and 98 (25.5%) had good awareness. Education showed the strongest association with awareness, with graduates having higher odds of good awareness than participants with no formal education. Conclusion: Adults in Quetta had basic but incomplete awareness of nutrition-related NCD prevention. Practical nutrition education focusing on food labels, hidden dietary risks, fiber intake, and personal risk perception is needed, especially for less educated and rural populations.
Article Details
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
1. GBD 2017 Diet Collaborators. Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2019;393(10184):1958-72. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30041-8.
2. GBD 2019 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1223-49. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30752-2.
3. Ruthsatz M, Candeias V, Mackenzie G. Non-communicable disease prevention, nutrition and aging. Acta Biomed. 2020;91(2):379-88. doi:10.23750/abm.v91i2.9721.
4. Di Daniele N. The role of preventive nutrition in chronic non-communicable diseases. Nutrients. 2019;11(5):1074. doi:10.3390/nu11051074.
5. Swinburn BA, Kraak VI, Allender S, Atkins VJ, Baker PI, Bogard JR, et al. The global syndemic of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change: The Lancet Commission report. Lancet. 2019;393(10173):791-846. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32822-8.
6. Cámara M, Giner RM, González-Fandos E, López-García E, Mañes J, Portillo MP, et al. Food-based dietary guidelines around the world: a comparative analysis to update AESAN scientific committee dietary recommendations. Nutrients. 2021;13(9):3131. doi:10.3390/nu13093131.
7. Montagnese C, Santarpia L, Buonifacio M, Nardelli A, Caldara AR, Silvestri E, et al. Food-based dietary guidelines around the world: Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. Nutrients. 2019;11(6):1325. doi:10.3390/nu11061325.
8. Tekle DY, Rosewarne E, Santos JA, Trieu K, Buse K, Palu A, et al. Do food and nutrition policies in Ethiopia support the prevention of non-communicable diseases through population-level salt reduction measures? A policy content analysis. Nutrients. 2023;15(7):1745. doi:10.3390/nu15071745.
9. Budreviciute A, Damiati S, Sabir DK, Onder K, Schuller-Goetzburg P, Plakys G, et al. Management and prevention strategies for non-communicable diseases and their risk factors. Front Public Health. 2020;8:574111. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.574111.
10. Bhatia T, Cullum A. Improving diets and multimorbidity prevention. Proc Nutr Soc. 2024;84(4):1-8. doi:10.1017/S0029665124007420.
11. Lawrence M. Fundamentals of a healthy and sustainable diet. Nutr J. 2024;23(1):150. doi:10.1186/s12937-024-01049-6.
12. Basit A, Fawwad A, Qureshi H, Shera AS; NDSP Members. Prevalence of diabetes, pre-diabetes and associated risk factors: second National Diabetes Survey of Pakistan, 2016–2017. BMJ Open. 2018;8(8):e020961. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020961.
13. Basit A, Tanveer S, Fawwad A, Naeem N; NDSP Members. Prevalence and contributing risk factors for hypertension in urban and rural areas of Pakistan: a study from second National Diabetes Survey of Pakistan 2016–2017. Clin Exp Hypertens. 2020;42(4):1-7. doi:10.1080/10641963.2019.1619753.
14. Asif M, Aslam M, Altaf S, Atif S, Majid A. Prevalence and sociodemographic factors of overweight and obesity among Pakistani adults. J Obes Metab Syndr. 2020;29(1):58-66. doi:10.7570/jomes19039.
15. Shah N, Shah Q, Shah AJ. The burden and high prevalence of hypertension in Pakistani adolescents: a meta-analysis of the published studies. Arch Public Health. 2018;76:20. doi:10.1186/s13690-018-0265-5.
16. Kazmi T, Haider S, Ali N, Bughio S, Saad M. Burden of noncommunicable diseases in Pakistan. East Mediterr Health J. 2022;28(11):798-804. doi:10.26719/emhj.22.083.
17. Imran K, Raza Q, Saleem H, Batool R, et al. Sources and level of nutrition knowledge among adults in Lahore: a cross-sectional descriptive study. Cureus. 2023;15(8):e44186. doi:10.7759/cureus.44186.
18. Żarnowski A, Jankowski M, Gujski M, et al. Public awareness of diet-related diseases and dietary risk factors: a 2022 nationwide cross-sectional survey among adults in Poland. Nutrients. 2022;14(16):3285. doi:10.3390/nu14163285.
19. Yavaş İA, Guney-Coskun M, Saleki N, et al. Nutrition literacy and its relationship with diet quality and quality of life among white-collar employees: a study from Türkiye. BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1). doi:10.1186/s12889-024-21078-4.
20. Persoskie A, Hennessy E, Nelson WL. US consumers’ understanding of nutrition labels in 2013: the importance of health literacy. Prev Chronic Dis. 2017;14:E86. doi:10.5888/pcd14.170066.
21. Wei H, Jiang K, Liu B, Hu Z, Zhao Y, Xu H, et al. Understanding and use of nutrition labels of prepackaged food among university students in Chongqing, China: a cross-sectional study. Nutrients. 2022;14(19):4189. doi:10.3390/nu14194189.
22. Li S, Zhu Y, Zeng M, Li Z, Zeng H, Shi Z, et al. Association between nutrition literacy and overweight/obesity of adolescents: a cross-sectional study in Chongqing, China. Front Nutr. 2022;9:893267. doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.893267.
23. Chrissini MK, Panagiotakos DB. Health literacy as a determinant of childhood and adult obesity: a systematic review. Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2021;33(3):9-39. doi:10.1515/ijamh-2020-0275.
24. Asiri AA, Asiri S, Asiri H. Knowledge related to hypertension risk factors, diet, and lifestyle modification: a comparative study between hypertensive and non-hypertensive individuals. Cureus. 2020;12(8):e9890. doi:10.7759/cureus.9890.
25. Shafi ST, Shafi T. A survey of hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control in health screening camps of rural central Punjab, Pakistan. J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2017;7(2):135-40. doi:10.1016/j.jegh.2017.01.001.
26. Safdar NF, Bertone-Johnson ER, Cordeiro LS, Jafar TH, Cohen NL. Dietary patterns of Pakistani adults and their associations with sociodemographic, anthropometric and lifestyle factors. J Nutr Sci. 2014;2:e42. doi:10.1017/jns.2013.37.
27. Khan I, Ul-Haq Z, Taj AS, Iqbal Z, Basharat S, Shah BH. Prevalence and association of obesity with self-reported comorbidity: a cross-sectional study of 1321 adult participants in Lasbela, Balochistan. Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:1076923. doi:10.1155/2017/1076923.
28. Shera AS, Basit A, Fawwad A, Hakeem R, Ahmedani MY, Hydrie MZI, et al. Pakistan National Diabetes Survey: prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated factors in Punjab Province of Pakistan. Prim Care Diabetes. 2010;4(2):79-83. doi:10.1016/j.pcd.2010.01.003.
29. Shera AS, Rafique G, Khawaja IA, Ara J, Baqai S, King H. Pakistan National Diabetes Survey: prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated factors in Shikarpur, Sindh Province. Diabet Med. 1995;12(12):1116-21. doi:10.1111/j.1464-5491.1995.tb00430.x.
30. Shera AS, Rafique G, Khawaja IA, Baqai S, King H. Pakistan National Diabetes Survey: prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated factors in Baluchistan Province. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 1999;44(1):49-58. doi:10.1016/S0168-8227(99)00017-0.
31. Aamir AH, Ul-Haq Z, Mahar SA, Qureshi FM, Ahmad I, Jawa A, et al. Diabetes Prevalence Survey of Pakistan: prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and prediabetes using HbA1c. BMJ Open. 2019;9(2):e025300. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025300.
32. Aamir AH, Ul-Haq Z, Fazid S, Shah BH, Raza A, Jawa A, et al. Type 2 diabetes prevalence in Pakistan: what is driving this? Cardiovasc Endocrinol Metab. 2020;9(4):159-64. doi:10.1097/XCE.0000000000000212.