Zeitschrift für Adipositas- und Gewichtsverlusttherapie

Abstrakt

Obesity and their correlates- Role of Nutritional education, A longitudinal study among medical students of India

Mohammad Athar Ansari

Nutritional intake during adolescences is important for growth, long term health promotion, and the development. The present study has been carried out to find out the prevalence and changing pattern of overweight and obesity in medical students and to determine the correlates of overweight and obesity

Total number of participants was 240 comprising of 150 male and 90 female medial students and interns. They were given nutritional education and followed up during Internship. Body Mass Index (BMI) of <18.5 Kg/ m² was taken as cut off point for underweight. Overweight and Obese were taken at the level of >25.0 Kg/ m² and 30 Kg/m² and above respectively.

During 3^rd to 5^th semesters, among 150 male students, 15 (10.0%) were overweight while 9 (6.0%) were found to be obese and 6 (4.0%) were underweight. Among 90 girls, 21 (23.3%) were overweight, 10 (11.1%) obese and (7.7%) were found to be underweight. During internship, prevalence of obesity was decreased to 5.2% and overweight was declined to 3.4%. High calorie intake was noticed in 45 (30.0%) male students and lack of physical activity was observed in 25 (16.7%) male students. Among female students, high calorie intake and lack of physical activity was found in 31 (34.4%) and 20 (22.2%) students respectively.