Factors determining state of being overweight among the students of Government Medical Colleges of Punjab, Pakistan.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and factors that make medical students of public sector colleges of Punjab, Overweight. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Settings: 12 different medical colleges of the government sector in Punjab, Pakistan by both online and physical survey using non-probability convenient type of sampling. Period: January 2020 to February 2020. Material & Methods: A total of 352 students from all five years of the academic course participated in this study. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was self-administered to the students after taking their consent. The data included demographic information, targeted questions on diet, personal health habits, illnesses, and family history. The data was analyzed by the statistical program SPSS version 21. Results: Out of the total population, 28.1% were male and 71.9% were female students. The median age was 21.0 years. The mean weight was 59.2 ± 11.54 kgs. 56.3% of the students were hostelites and 43.8% were day-scholars. The average pocket-money of the students was 10,150 PKR Per month. According to the body-mass index, about 11.9% of students were underweight, 12.8% were overweight, 2.3% were obese, and 62.5% were of normal weight. It was found that females were more likely to be overweight than males. Not following any specific diet appeared to be the cause of being overweight while following specific diets was a protective factor against overweight status. Year of study, accommodation status, meals per day, calorie intake, ceremonial eating, hours of sleep, and study had no effect on overweight. Overweight students did not have a significant family history of diabetes mellitus. Conclusions: Poor dietary habits and unhealthy lifestyles increase the prevalence of overweight status among medical students and pose them at increased risk of serious illness in the future. Nutritional counseling and healthy lifestyle awareness are recommended for better practice of health and learning among medical students.