Relationship between participation in physical activity and health risk behaviours among youth in high schools in Mtwara region, Tanzania

Abstract

Physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for major non-communicable diseases, which contribute substantially to the global burden of chronic diseases, disability and death. The burden of disability, morbidity and mortality, attributable to non-communicable diseases, is currently enormous in the developed countries and is increasingly growing in the developing countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between participation in physical activity and health risk behaviours among high school students in the Mtwara region, Tanzania. The objectives of this study were to identify the physical activity levels among high school students in Mtwara region, Tanzania, to identify health risk behaviours among the above mentioned high school students, to identify the factors that influenced them to engage in health risk behaviours and to establish the relationship between physical activity and health risk behaviours.