Background: In Chile obesity has increased (25.1% to 34%), and sedentary lifestyle has remained at 86.7% since 2010 to 2017 despite National programs and campaigns for improvements. It is unknown the prevalence of these and other lifestyle factors in students of medical careers, the expected future promotors of healthy lifestyles throughout their work. Objectives: To determine prevalence of obesity, physical inactivity, emotional stress, smoking and use of alcohol in first year students at University of Chile Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry at admission and throughout their first academic year. Methods: In a longitudinal randomized sample of 253 students (186 females) who completed the study, weight, height, waist circumference, waist circumference-weight ratio, BMI, food consumption, smoking (Glover-Nilsson Test) alcohol use (AUDIT), perceived stress level (PSS), and physical activity (GPAQ) at the first week, 3 and 6 months after their admission were measured. Cochran Test for dichotomic variables and Friedman test for non-parametric variables were used. Results: Average age was 19.1 ± 0.95 years, and blood pressure (first week) 117.2 ± 14.9 / 68.8 ± 8.7 mm/Hg. All the other results are listed in Table 1. Significant increasing prevalence of obesity (general and abdominal, 6.3% to 10.3%) and physical inactivity (< 600 MET/min/week, 16.6% to 22.9%), and poor eating habits with similar sex trends were found. High level PSS persisted throughout the study. Smoking in 17.8 % the first week without significant changes and harmful alcohol consumption declined significantly since admission (10.7 to 5.1%). Conclusions: Progressive obesity and physical inactivity, persistent highly perceived stress, poor eating habits, prevalence of smoking and harmful consumption of alcohol in first year medical students are of concern. Inclusion of lifestyle counseling in the curriculum and revision of its priorities and structure should be considered. A longer follow-up in a larger student cohort is being planned.
Millions of lives are saved each year through blood transfusion, yet the availability, quality and the safety of blood transfusion is still a concern, particularly in the developing countries. The factors influencing blood donation vary and one's knowledge can influence this decision. To assess the factors influencing the knowledge and practice of blood donation among youth corp members in Ogun State, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study of randomly selected 600 youth corp members. Data was collected through self-administered pretested structured questionnaires and analyzed with SPSS version 21. Multiple regression analyses were used to identify the significant predictors of knowledge and practice of blood donation, with statistical significance at 95% confidence interval. Results: Knowledge of blood donation was adequate among 220 (41.5%) of the respondents, 89 (16.6%) had donated blood. Age younger than or equal to 24 years (AOR=2.040, 95% CI:1.404,2.966) and studying health science courses (AOR=10116, 95% CI:4,368,427) were significant determinants of knowledge. Male gender, marital status, religion, course of study, medium of awareness and good knowledge of blood donation were significant determinants of blood donation among corp members. The commonest reason for donation was replacement (48.3%) and most common reason for not donating was because of never been asked to donate (53.6%). One hundred and sixty-three (30.5 %) signified that they would donate if asked. Conclusion: Level of adequate knowledge about blood donation was low and those who had donated are in the minority. There is need to create more awareness on the importance of blood donation among the youth.
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