Health Promotion Practices and Chronic Disease Prevention in Urban Slum Communities of Lagos State, South West Nigeria

Urban slum communities in Lagos State experience a disproportionate burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases, yet targeted health promotion programming for these populations remains underdeveloped and inadequately evaluated. This study examines health promotion practices and their association with chronic disease prevention awareness and behaviour in selected urban slum communities of Lagos State. A cross-sectional survey design is applied to 330 adults aged 25 to 60 years from Makoko, Ajegunle, and Mushin communities, selected through cluster sampling. A structured questionnaire assesses exposure to health promotion activities including community health talks, mass media campaigns, neighbourhood fitness programmes, nutrition education, and tobacco cessation efforts, alongside knowledge, attitude, and self-reported preventive behaviour scores for hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. SPSS is used for analysis, with logistic regression identifying associations between health promotion exposure and preventive behaviour adoption. Evidence from the Lagos State Health Service Commission 2023 community health assessment indicates that chronic disease screening coverage in informal settlements is below 8 percent, and resident health literacy on non-communicable disease risks is significantly lower than in formal residential areas. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and the Social-Ecological Model inform the study's framework. Findings will guide the Lagos State Ministry of Health on designing targeted non-communicable disease prevention programmes for slum communities. Keywords: health promotion, chronic disease prevention, urban slums, non-communicable diseases, Lagos State.