Study on NCDs shows young people's use of Shisha on the rise

Young people are steadily taking to smoking shisha, a study has shown.

The nationwide survey has revealed that the use of the substance is more prevalent among the 18-29 years age group (12.7 per cent) and particularly highest among females within the same age group, representing 61.4 per cent.

The survey was conducted by the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and their development partners, with the main focus being Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)

Sample size

Using the World Health Organisation's STEPwise approach and tools, the data from this survey was conducted in all 16 regions and 385 communities among 5,438 participants aged between 18 and 69.

The rationale for a nationwide STEPS in Ghana was to reduce exposure to risk factors that contribute to NCDs, strengthen early detection and management to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with NCDs and strengthen the Health System for NCD prevention and control.

Smoking, alcohol

The study also found the daily tobacco use among smokers using manufactured cigarettes to be high (4.8 per cent), exposure to second-hand smoke was common in workplaces (19.9 per cent) while current tobacco users who also smoke shisha were 7.8 per cent.

The study found alcohol consumption among Ghanaians to be 22.6 per cent, with the population engaged in heavy episodic drinking on a single occasion being 2.5 per cent.

However, 43.9 per cent of Ghanaians are lifetime abstainers from alcohol while 19.8 per cent represented those who have abstained for the last 12 months.

Findings

The findings of the survey were presented during the dissemination and launch of the 2023 National Survey Report for Ghana in Accra last Thursday (October 30).

Present at the meeting were the Director, Technical Coordination Directorate, Ministry of Health, Alhaji Hafez Adam Taher; the Officer in Charge, WHO-Ghana, Dr Frank John Lule; the Director, Public Health, GHS, Dr Franklin Asiedu Bekoe; the Technical Advisor to the Minister of Health, Dr Darius Osei, and the Health Advisor, FCDO Ghana, Dr Dominic Farrell.

Cholesterol

Leading the presentation, the Principal Investigator, Dr Dennis Odai Laryea, expressed worry that there were low levels of physical activity for health, especially among women.

He said low levels of vigorous and recreational physical activity among the adult population -overweight and obesity- were common among adults.

“The younger (18-29 years) and older (60-69 years) age groups did less mean number of minutes of total physical activity on average per day than the middle age group (30-59 years),” according to the survey.

He encouraged the populace to engage more in recreational activities, such as dancing, a good form of physical exercise, emphasising that the average minutes of recreational activity per day was 12.6 minutes, which was woefully inadequate.

Dr Laryea further indicated that the survey found out that most adults have never had a blood cholesterol test and more females than males have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.