Assessment of overweight, obesity and metabolic variables among students of a private medical college in Dhaka city

Abstract

Background: Overweight and obesity are recognized as recent threat which affecting both developing and developed countries. Obesity and its associated morbidities are leading cause of most non-communicable diseases. Few recent studies have indicated the presence of increase in overweight and obesity among children and adolescent but there is no study among adult groups. Method and material: This cross sectional study was done to assess the prevalence of overweight, obesity and metabolic variables with their relation among medical students. Result: Our result reveals that 8.6% & 1.9% male and 15% & 3.2% female are suffering from overweight and obesity (based on BMI) respectively. More females (31.3% and 65.2%) are centrally obese than males (3.5% and 34.8%) (According to Waist Hip ratio and Waist Height ratio respectively). But according to Waist circumference more males (30.7%) are obese than females (24%). There is also significant difference of male and female BP. DBP and SBP of male (79.22mmHg & 118.9 mmHg) have high normal level than female (72.71mmHg and 108.67mmHg) (P<0.001). There is no significant difference of glycaemic status (p<.286) and lipid profile ( p<.347) with central obesity. Conclusion: Although male students have high upper level of blood pressure, female students are more obese than males (both according to BMI and central obesity). High blood pressure and obesity both acts as risk factors for the development of non communicable disease. Student’s awareness therefore should be increased to reduce central obesity and BP within normal range.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v14i1.21559 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.14(1) 2015 p.53-58

Obesity and Hypertension in Students of Jahangirnagar University: Alarming Issues

“…Notably, we found that the majority of students who suffered from high BP actually had pre-HTN. Higher BP in males compared to females was also observed in a study conducted in Bangladeshi private medical students [39]. In a study conducted among the students of a central university in West Bank, around one quarter of the students had reported to be prehypertensive whereas HTN was evident in 2.2% with males being significantly more affected than females [31].…”

“…The overall percentage of generalized obesity (BMI≥25 kg/m 2 ) was 20.82% in all subjects (20.09% in males and 21.58% in females). Higher prevalence of obesity among females at undergraduate medical level was also reported in Bangladesh [39]. By contrast, Yasin et al [31] reported the lower rate of obesity in girls (4%) than boys (9.4%) with an overall proportion of 7.2%.…”