An Epidemiological Study for Assessment of Selected Lifestyle Disorders among University Students at Central Gujarat, India

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents has risen dramatically from just 4% in 1975 to over 18% in 2016. The risk for the non-communicable diseases increases, with increase in BMI. Objectives: To provide epidemiological insights into proportion of malnutrition in form of underweight/ overweight, hypertension and high blood sugar and to analyse the relation between anthropometric measures with Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar level among University students. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted among newly admitted college students of the university during 2018. Total 3311 students’ data were collected using case-record form. Data collection included information on socio-demographic profile from students, anthropometric measurements, Blood pressure measurement and Random blood sugar (RBS) check-up. Results:The mean age was 18.7±1.2 and 19.17±1.6 years among male and female students, respectively. Out of 3311 students, 30.90% were in underweight category and 18.76% were in overweight or obesity category according to BMI. According to waist-Hip ratio (WHR), 20.6% males and 18.9% females had substantially increased risk for metabolic complications. Around 139 (5.99%) males and 16 (1.61%) females were found to have high systolic blood pressure while 365 (15.7%) males and 44 (4.4%) females were in high diastolic blood pressure category. Around 1.06% had RBS > 140 mg/dl. There was positive correlation and statistically significant association between BMI and WHR with high blood pressure. Conclusions: High prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity, high WHR, high blood pressure among youth population demands early screening and intervention to prevent morbidity and mortality in later life.