A STUDY OF PREVALENCE OF OBESITY AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AND ITS RELATION WITH FOOD HABITS AND EXERCISE

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is widely regarded as a major global pandemic as it is associated with numerous comorbidities such as increased cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Increased intake of junk food and a sedentary life has increased the rate of obesity among the youth over the last 20 years. The present study wa Materials and Methods: s conducted at a medical college to check the prevalence of obesity among medical students and its relation with food habits and exercise. Students were given a self-administered questionnaire about obesity which had an information regarding age, sex, food habits, frequency of consumption of junk foods, duration of sleep, exercise, etc. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 29.2% and 18.8% respective Results: ly. The prevalence of obesity was higher in the 18-21 years (17.2%) than in the 22 -25 years age group (12%). It was found that among obese students, 89% of students skipped their meals and only 11% had their regular meals. The students who tended to skip their breakfast less than three times a week were more obese (45.2%) than those who had never skipped their lunch (22%). It was also found that among obese students, 24.7% of students never did exercise, whereas 43.8% of students used to do exercise for < 1 hour, 28.8%% used to do exercise for 1-2 hours, and 2.7% used to do a regular exercise for >2 hours a day. The students who did not do exercise or exercise for <1 hour a day were more than those who used to do exercise for 1-2 hours and those who used to do regular exercise for >2 hours a day. The study concluded that the obesity Conclusion: and overweight is a serious health issue for medical students as they are future doctors and health leaders in the community