Physical activity and dietary habits among mbbs students of a private medical college of eastern india

Abstract

Background: Physical activity and dietary habits play a major role in the prevention of non-communicable diseases. The stress involved in meeting the responsibilities of becoming a physician may adversely affect the exercise and dietary habits of students. Objectives: To assess the practice of physical activity and dietary habits amongMBBS students of a private Medical College of Eastern India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July-September 2018 among 130 MBBS students a private Medical College of Eastern India. Physical activity was assessed by using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) and dietary habits by a pretested and pre-structured questionnaire. Data were entered into an excel spreadsheet and analysed by SPSS software version 20. Results: Mean age of study participants was 21.99±0.96 years. About 55.4% were females, 93.1% were Hindus and 92.3% belonged to general caste. According to WHO criteria for obesity, 28.5% were overweight and 11.5% were obese. The median total energy expenditure was 599.01 metabolic equivalent-min/week (IQR-420-780). Normal-weight/ underweight students were more likely to be achieving recommended physical activity (PA) levels than overweight/ obese participants based on overall MET value and this difference was statistically significant (p=0.003).40.8 % of students were not physically active. About 19% were not involved in any activity at leisure, 61.2% thought they were overweight. Among them, 65.4 % practised various exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Conclusion: Promotion of physical activity by increasing awareness and specific intervention for obese students is needed for obesity control.