**3. Demographic overview of youths and adolescents in Nigeria**

Nigeria is the most populous country on the African continent and with a population of about 200 million, and it is the seventh largest in the world. Most of

#### **Figure 1.**

*The population pyramid of Nigeria, the large base representing the large number of young people in the country. Source: US Census Bureau International Data Base.*

*Prevalence and Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Diseases among the Nigerian Population: A New… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108180*

the population is young, with 42.54% between the ages of 0–14 years and half the population aged below 19 years. As a result, there is a very high dependency ratio in the country at 88.2 dependants per 100 non-dependants (**Figure 1**).

As a result of the large number of young people in the country, there exist specific health and social risks common among people in the early and developmental stage of life. Some of these risks include early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/ AIDS, alcohol and other drug abuse, cybercrime, social exclusion, and youth violence [37, 38]. Responding to all these issues, the Federal government of Nigeria developed a National Youth Policy, designed to address the needs of young people through five priority areas (globalisation, use of communication technology, impact of STDs/HIV/ AIDS, and intergenerational issues and youth perpetrators of armed conflict) and thereby enhance youth lives [39].
