The purpose of this thesis is to find out how urbanization affects human health and wellbeing in developing countries. The focus of the study is on the prevalence of non-contagious, chronic diseases, particularly cardio-vascular diseases and obesity, and their risk factors in the population of developing countries. This thesis is part of the Urban Health project that is currently in preparation. The method of this study is a systematic review. The research material consists mainly of studies and literature in the field of nursing science. The scientific studies are taken from the following electronic databases: Cinahl and PubMed. The analysis is executed as content analysis. 14 research papers were used as sources for this study. According to this study, both cardio-vascular diseases and obesity are becoming increasingly common in developing countries. This trend is attributed mainly to the westernization of the way of life; decrease in exercise, increase in smoking, and less healthy eating habits.
In view of this study, the health of the population of developing countries should be supported by advancing the health care system in those countries, and by training skilled medical personnel in sufficient numbers in order to treat non-contagious diseases and to ensure the availability of treatment to the entire population. The quality of life of the people of developing countries can be improved by encouraging them to follow a healthy lifestyle. These measures could have a positive impact on the people's health behavior, which in turn may decreases the risk of developing non-contagious cardio-vascular diseases. Likewise, the risk of obesity and obesity related diseases is reduced.