{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T05:51:43Z","timestamp":1791525103891,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791504000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>University students frequently engage in health-risk behaviours that may affect academic engagement, wellbeing, and campus experiences. Quantitative studies dominate the literature, leaving limited qualitative insight into how students in specific African university settings understand these behaviours and the contexts in which they occur.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A single-site descriptive qualitative case study was conducted at a university in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Fifteen students aged 19\u201325\u202fyears participated in semi-structured telephone interviews. Five institutional documents provided supplementary contextual information. Data were analysed thematically using QDA Miner Lite and interpreted through a socio-ecological lens.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Students described six interconnected health-risk behaviours: substance use, smoking and waterpipe use, risky sexual behaviours, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behaviours cancel practices, and inadequate and irregular sleep. These behaviours were understood as shaped by interacting peer, academic, financial, psychological, and institutional influences rather than as isolated individual choices. Some accounts reflected personal experiences, while others concerned behaviours observed among peers. Perceived consequences include difficulties with concentration and attendance, emotional wellbeing, physical wellbeing, and social relationships. Participants advocated accessible counselling, peer education, health information, healthier coping strategies, and student-informed institutional support.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Health-risk behaviours among these students were embedded in interconnected personal, social, economic, academic, and institutional contexts. The findings highlight the importance of multi-level, student-informed approaches to university health promotion that address both individual coping and the broader conditions shaping health behaviours. Further multi-site qualitative and mixed-methods research is needed across diverse Zimbabwean and Southern African university settings.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1914098","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T05:30:38Z","timestamp":1791523838000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Health-risk behaviours among university students in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Grace","family":"Moyo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of South Africa","place":["Pretoria, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fortunate T.","family":"Silinda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of South Africa","place":["Pretoria, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0272240","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0272240","article-title":"Understanding the nature of substance use in Zimbabwe: state of the art and ways forward: a scoping review protocol","volume":"18","author":"Marandure","year":"2023","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref2","first-page":"1177","article-title":"Increased illicit substance use among Zimbabwean adolescents and youths during the COVID-19 era: an impending public health disaster Addiction.","author":"Mukwenha","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e036916","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2020-036916","article-title":"Occupational justice and social inclusion among people living with HIV and people with mental illness: a scoping review","volume":"10","author":"Nhunzvi","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1042","DOI":"10.1093\/pubmed\/fdad106","article-title":"Prevalence of health risk behaviours related to non-communicable diseases amongst south African university students: a systematic review","volume":"45","author":"Florence","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Public Health"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"351","DOI":"10.1177\/109019818801500401","article-title":"An ecological perspective on health promotion programs","volume":"15","author":"McLeroy","year":"1988","journal-title":"Health Educ Q"},{"key":"ref6","first-page":"1175","article-title":"Is alcohol consumption associated with poor academic achievement in university students?","volume":"4","author":"El Ansari","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int J Prev Med"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.5539\/gjhs.v7n4p18","article-title":"Predictors of illicit drug\/s use among university students in Northern Ireland, Wales and England","volume":"7","author":"El Ansari","year":"2014","journal-title":"Global J Health Sci"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"857","DOI":"10.1093\/pubmed\/fdaa138","article-title":"Prevalence and correlates of multiple behavioural risk factors of non-communicable diseases among university students from 24 countries","volume":"43","author":"Pengpid","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Public Health"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.21608\/pssjn.2020.123979","article-title":"Health risk behaviors among Port Said university students","volume":"7","author":"Salem","year":"2020","journal-title":"Port Said Sci J Nurs"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.63201\/QNBH2475","article-title":"Capturing the lifestyle practices of university students: a case study in Zimbabwe","volume":"23","author":"Gwizo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. 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