Knowledge and practices of preventive measures towards type 2 diabetes mellitus among students of a selected university in Ibadan, Nigerian
Patience Fawole, Adeyinka Ishola 
Abstract
Aim: Type 2 diabetes mellitus was seen as mostly affecting individuals older than 40years of age, in the past. However, the epidemic of overweight, obesity and physical inactivity in adolescents and youths in recent times has led to an increasing occurrence of type 2 diabetes at younger age. The prevention and control of this disease can be highly influenced by improved knowledge about the disease and its preventive practices. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and practices of preventive strategies towards type 2 diabetes mellitus among undergraduate students of the University of Ibadan, Nigerian. 
Methodology: 411 undergraduate students of the University of Ibadan were selected randomly from 5 halls of residence of the university. Standardized, self-administered and structured questionnaire was used to elicit responses on knowledge of and practices towards preventing the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Results: A total of three hundred and seventy two (372) questionnaires were retrieved and statistically analyzed using tables, charts, percentages, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation. Out of the students sampled, 267 (71.8%) were female while 99 (26.6%) were male from various halls of residence within the university. Average age was 20.25 (±2.76). As regards knowledge of type 2 diabetes mellitus, 43%, 29%, and 28% had high, low and average knowledge about type 2 diabetes mellitus respectively. The rate of preventive practice showed that 34 (36%) had good practice, 179 (48%) had fair practice, and 59 (16%) had poor practice towards preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus. 
The result showed that there was a significant relationship between knowledge of type 2 diabetes and preventive practices of the students [χ2 = 13.06, df = 4, p < .01) as those with high knowledge also had a high level of preventive practices. 
Conclusion: There was relationship between knowledge of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its preventive practices. The higher the knowledge, the better the preventive practices of the students. It is recommended that awareness about the prevention of diabetes mellitus be increased among University students. 



Key word:  Knowledge, practices, Preventive strategies, students, Ibadan

Knowledge and practices of preventive measures towards type 2 diabetes mellitus among students of university of Ibadan