Assessment of behavioral factors related to health risk among ethnic indians living in the pre-arctic region of the Russian Federation

A healthy lifestyle is the most important way to maintain health and primary prevention of noncommunicable diseases. The main components of a healthy lifestyle are rational nutrition and the absence of negative behavioral factors such as smoking and alcohol abuse. International students who have arrived from India to the European North of Russia undergo complex physiological and social adaptation, which contributes to the transformation of their lifestyle. The nature and structure of nutrition is changing, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption are noted. In this regard, it is important to study the lifestyle of students of the Indian ethnic group while living in the Arctic region of Russia. The purpose of the study is to analyze behavioral factors affecting the lifestyle of ethnic Indians living in the Arctic region of the Russian Federation. The study included a sample of 405 ethnic Indians living in Arkhangelsk. As a result of the conducted research, it was revealed that in the group of Indians with long experience of living in the European North, only 40.9% of respondents consumed a sufficient amount of plant foods, which is significantly lower than among newly arrived students (p<0.001). With an increase in the length of residence in the North, there was a transition to a protein-lipid type of diet: consumption of meat (p<0.001), fish (p<0.001), semi-finished products (p<0.001), fast food (p<0.001) increased statistically significantly. Participants with long residence experience are significantly more susceptible (p<0.001) to negative factors (smoking and alcohol consumption).

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