부산대학교 도서관

There has been a rapid rise in the burden of noncommunicable diseases in low-incomecountries likeNepal. Political and economical instability leading to internal migration give rise to haphazard urbanization in Nepal. This, coupled with negative effects of globalization, is largely responsible for changing lifestyle and developing risky behaviour among the urban poor that put them at high risk of developing noncommunicable diseases. Adescriptive cross-sectional quantitative studywas conducted fromSeptember to December 2012 in an urban slum of Kathmandu to explore the prevalence of four major behaviour risk factors namely physical inactivity, lowfruit and vegetable consumption, and tobacco and alcohol use and to measure the burden of obesity and hypertension in the population. We usedWHO NCDs Risk Factor steps 1 and 2 questionnaires in all the 689 households of the slum. The major behavioral risk factors for noncommunicable diseases were very common with at least a quarter of the population having themajor risk factors. The results may serve to form a framework to future planning, policy-making, implementation, and evaluation of any measures undertaken to reduce these risk factors, especially as the government is planning to unveil the National Urban Health Policy soon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]