Obesity among young people increases lifetime cardiovascular risk. This study assesses the prevalence of overweight/obesity and its associated factors among a random sample of university students from 22 universities in 22 low, middle income and emerging economy countries. This cross-sectional survey comprised of a self-administered questionnaire and collected anthropometric measurements. The study population was 6773 (43.2%) males and 8913 (56.8%) females, aged 16 to 30 years (mean 20.8 years, SD = 2.6). Body mass index (BMI) was used for weight status. Among men, the prevalence of underweight was 10.8%, normal weight 64.4%, overweight 18.9% and obesity 5.8%, while among women, the prevalence of underweight was 17.6%, normal weight 62.1%, overweight 14.1% and obesity 5.2%. Overall, 22% were overweight or obese (24.7% men and 19.3% women). In multivariate regression among men, younger age, coming from a higher income country, consciously avoiding fat and cholesterol, physically inactivity, current tobacco use and childhood physical abuse, and among women older age, coming from a higher income country, frequent organized religious activity, avoiding fat and cholesterol, posttraumatic stress symptoms and physical childhood abuse were associated overweight or obesity. Several gender specific risk factors identified can be utilized in health promotion programmes.

Vaccination is fast becoming a key intervention against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted cross-sectional online surveys to investigate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance across nine Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs; N = 10,183), assuming vaccine effectiveness at 90% and 95%. The prevalence of vaccine acceptance increased from 76.4% (90% effectiveness) to 88.8% (95% effectiveness). Considering a 90% effective vaccine, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, and five African countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Uganda, Malawi, and Mali) had lower acceptance odds compared to Brazil. Individuals who perceived taking the vaccine as important to protect themselves had the highest acceptance odds (aOR 2.49) at 95% effectiveness.Vaccine acceptance was also positively associated with COVID-19 knowledge, worry/fear regarding COVID-19, higher income, younger age, and testing negative for COVID-19. However, chronic disease and female gender reduced the odds for vaccine acceptance. The main reasons underpinning vaccine refusal were fear of side effects (41.2%) and lack of confidence in vaccine effectiveness (15.1%). Further research is needed to identify country-specific reasons for vaccine hesitancy in order to develop mitigation strategies that would ensure high and equitable vaccination coverage across LMICs.

The aim of this investigation was to estimate the independent and combined associations of sedentary behaviour (SB) and physical activity (PA) with life satisfaction, happiness and perceived health in university students. In a cross-sectional survey, 12,492 university students (median age 20 years, interquartile range = 3) from 24 countries responded to a questionnaire on SB, PA and well-being indicators. In adjusted linear regression, higher SB (4 to <8 h and ≥8 h) was associated with poorer life satisfaction (β = −0.21, confidence interval (CI): −0.27 to −0.14) and lower happiness (β = −0.31, CI: −0.46 to −0.17), and higher SB (≥8 h) was associated with lower perceived health (β = −0.08, CI: −0.13 to 0.03). In addition, moderate and/or high PA increased the odds for higher life satisfaction (β = 0.10, CI: 0.04 to 0.16), greater happiness (β = 0.27, CI: 0.15 to 0.39) and better perceived health (β = 0.12, CI: 0.08 to 0.15). Programmes that reduce SB and increase PA may promote life satisfaction, happiness and perceived health status in this university student population.

Introduction: The study aimed to investigate the associations between skipping breakfast and various health risk behaviours and mental health in university students in 28 countries. Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, 21,972 university students with a median age of 20 years from 28 countries in Africa, the Americas and Asia, replied to self-reported measures of breakfast consumption, health compromising behaviours, mental health measures and protective factors. Results: In adjusted logistic regression analysis, infrequent and/or frequent breakfast skipping was associated with inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, frequent soft drink intake, not avoiding fat and cholesterol, current binge drinking, current tobacco use, gambling, not always wearing a seatbelt, inadequate physical activity, inadequate tooth brushing, not seeing a dentist in the past year and having been in a physical fight. In addition, infrequent and/or frequent breakfast skipping was associated with depression, lower happiness, posttraumatic stress disorder, loneliness, short sleep, long sleep, sleep problem, restless sleep, sleep problem due to traumatic event, and poor academic performance. Discussion: We found evidence that skipping breakfast was associated with 10 of 15 health risk behaviours, all of nine poor mental health indicators and poor academic performance.

Poor oral health is still a major burden for populations throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. The aim of this study was investigate oral health behaviour (tooth brushing and dental attendance) and associated factors in low, middle and high income countries. Using anonymous questionnaires, data were collected from 19,560 undergraduate university students (mean age 20.8, SD = 2.8) from 27 universities in 26 countries across Asia, Africa and the Americas. Results indicate that 67.2% of students reported to brush their teeth twice or more times a day, 28.8% about once a day and 4.0% never. Regarding dental check-up visit, 16.3% reported twice a year, 25.6% once a year, 33.9% rarely and 24.3% never. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, being a male, coming from a wealthy or quite well off family background, living in low income or lower middle income, weak beliefs in the importance of regular tooth brushing, depression and PTSD symptoms, tobacco use and frequent gambling, low physical activity, and low daily meal and snacks frequency were associated with inadequate tooth brushing (<twice daily). Further, being a male, older age, coming from a not well off or poor family background, living in low income or lower middle income, weak beliefs in the importance of regular tooth brushing, PTSD symptoms, illicit drug use, low physical activity, and low daily snacks frequency, skipping breakfast and inadequate fruit and vegetables consumption were associated with less than one annual dental care visit. Oral health behaviour among the students was found to be low. Various risk factors identified can be used to guide interventions to improve oral health behaviour among university students.