Knowledge of Sedentary Lifestyle as a Risk Factor for Non-Communicable Diseases among Senior Non Academic Senior Staff of University of Nigeria Nsukka

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the level of knowledge of non-academic staff on sedentary lifestyle as a risk factor for non-communicable diseases. Three research questions and one hypothesis were postulated to guide the study. The study utilized the descriptive survey research design. Population for the study consisted of two thousand and seven senior administrative staff of University of Nigeria, Nsukka . The sample for the study was three hundred and fifteen senior administrative staff. The instrument for data collection was researcher’s structured instrument based on literature reviewed called Knowledge of Sedentary Lifestyle as Risk Factor for Non-Communicable Diseases Questionnaire (KSLRFNCDQ). Kuder Richardson statistics was used to determine reliability coefficient of the KSLRFNCDQ which gave 0.70. Data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences-IBM-SPSS version 21. Frequencies and percentage were used to answer all the research questions. Chi-Square statistic was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The results indicated that senior non-academic staff knowledge of sedentary lifestyle was high. Also, senior non-academic staff knowledge of sedentary lifestyle as risk factor for non-communicable diseases was high. There was no significant difference in the knowledge of sedentary lifestyle as risk factor for non-communicable diseases among senior non-academic senior staff of University of Nigeria Nsukka based on gender. It was concluded that although senior non-academic staff of University of Nigeria Nsukka were knowledgeable, they did not put the their knowledge into practice to guide against non-communicable diseases. It was recommended that University should promote broad health and fitness programme talks such as counseling, seminars, workshops to stimulate staff to engage in regular physical activity, and provision to be made in terms allotting official days strictly for exercise to promote staff health.