The Factors Affecting the Occurrence of Obesity in College Students

Abstract

Obesity is a risk factor for many non-communicable diseases, a finding that provides insight into the preventable morbidity, disability, and death by reducing body mass index. The risk factors of non-communicable diseases attributable to obesity are diabetes (ca. 10%), hypertension (ca. 6%), heart disease (ca. 16%), cerebrovascular diseases (ca. 10%), and cancer (ca. 15%). College students are among the people with high risk of obesity. This review aims to identify and describe factors that can cause obesity and the increased risk of non-communicable diseases in college students. We first collected 608 studies associated with the review and then selected 9 studies that highly correlate to the specific purpose. We evaluated each selected study for its quality and risk of bias using STROBE. We then conducted data extraction of each study. It can be concluded from the results of data extraction that even though there are various factors contributing to the occurrence of obesity in college students, skipping breakfast and high snack consumption have a close relationship with the occurrence. In addition, inadequate physical activity and high calorie diet also contribute to its occurrence. Finally, smoking is also associated with the occurrence of obesity.