Prevalence, Co-Occurrence and Correlates of Unhealthy Behaviors: Secondary Analysis of Survey of Young People In Egypt "SYPE", 2014

Objectives: The present study aimed to identify the prevalence, and socio-demographic
correlates of the isolated and simultaneous presence of health risk behaviors among youth
aged 13 – 35 years in Egypt. Methods: The Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE),
was conducted in 2014. This survey included 10,916 youth representing total Egypt.
Selection of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) health risk behaviors and their
explanatory variables of youth aged 13-35 years were used for secondary and advanced
analysis. Results: The health risk behaviors with the highest prevalence were inadequate
fruits and vegetable intake (89.7%), inadequate physical activity (49%), excess salt intake
(44.2%), and smoking (13.2%). Eighty percent (80%) of youth had two or more
simultaneous non-communicable diseases (NCDs) risk behaviors. By applying logistic
regression analysis, age (tend to accumulate as adolescents grow older) and females were
statistically associated with co-occurrence of health risk behaviors. Lower Egypt was the
least geographic region of aggregation of risk behaviors. Conclusion and
recommendations: A high prevalence of NCDs health risk behaviors among youth was
found in Egypt, both isolated and simultaneously which could expect a significant increase
in NCDs in the near future. Multi-sectoral integrated approach to encourage people to
adopt healthy behaviors on individual-and population-level is recommended.