Huzefa Jibril, Hafiz Noman Saleem, Syed Danish Naseem, Karam Khan, Aqal Khan.
Behavioural Changes with age in a Sample of Pakistani Adolescents.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;7(2):82-4.

Introduction: As adolescents move from being children to young adults, behavioural modifications occur during this transition period. Studies from other countries have shown decreasing physical activity and increasing use of alcohol and tobacco. Such studies have allowed interventions to be developed that have led to better outcomes. This study aims to identify areas of concern to allow target interventions to be developed. Objectives: Identify behavioural changes that occur in adolescents as they progress through school. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was developed consisting of 28 questions on various categories. 2 schools of Karachi were chosen and permission was obtained from the principal of the respective schools. The questionnaire was administered to students of grade 6, 8 and 10 in the classroom after obtaining informed consent. Results: A total of 603 students participated in the study. 191 students were from grade 6, 197 were from grade 8 and 215 were from grade 10. Physical activity and healthy eating habits decreased moving from grade 6 to grade 10. Increasing trends were seen in internet use, cigarette smoking and sheesha use. Parental involvement in their children's studying was less amongst students of grade 10 then students of grade 6 and grade 8. Conclusion: As indicated by previous studies adolescent behaviour seems to be becoming more unproductive as adolescents progress through school. Unhealthy eating habits, decreased physical activity and increased risky behaviour were seen in adolescents in higher grades. Some of this behaviour appear to get progressively worse as the student progresses through school while others occur at specific times

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