Knowledge, Awareness and Lifestyle Practices Associated with Non-communicable Diseases and Their Risk Factors among Young Adults

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are increasingly relevant to young adults because everyday habits, including diet, physical activity and other lifestyle behaviours, can influence health over time. This crosssectional study assessed knowledge, awareness and lifestyle practices associated with NCDs among young adults in Pune. A total of 271 participants aged 18–30 years were included through simple random sampling and completed a structured questionnaire through Google Forms. Data were compiled and analysed descriptively using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 26.0. The mean reported age was 22.78 ± 2.93 years. The response pattern showed that 79.70% selected response category 1 for having heard about NCDs, 73.43% for recognising that an unhealthy lifestyle increases NCD risk, and 83.03% for identifying NCD risk factors. Among participants with valid physical-activity-type responses (n=266), walking was the most frequently reported activity (73.68%). Response category 1 was also predominant for several preventionrelated items, including the belief that a healthy lifestyle can prevent NCDs (91.51%) and willingness to modify lifestyle (82.66%). However, awareness of government or community NCD programmes was comparatively lower (46.13%). Dietary responses also showed frequent reporting of outside food, soft drinks and fast food in response category 1. Overall, the findings suggest a generally favourable awareness pattern but also a gap between knowing about NCD prevention and maintaining consistent healthy practices. Young adult health education should therefore focus on practical, affordable and sustainable lifestyle changes rather than awareness alone