Effectiveness of lifestyle intervention among medical college students at Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to identify lifestyle behaviors among medical students as well as the findings of healthy lifestyle before and after the intervention. Methodology: The study included both pre-and postintervention. It was carried out; from October till the end of November 2021.Eight weeks of follow-up and evaluation by researchers guided 360 out of 670 students, both male and female, at Taibah University and Al-Rayan Colleges.Results: By the end of the post-intervention, only 266 students had completed the questionnaire. The study showed that the number of students walking increased from 36.5% to 44.7% and those who didn't exercise decreased from 33.1% to 26% (P=.033). Regarding GPA, there was a statistically significant decrease (P<.001) in the number of students with a GPA of 3 to 3.49 (16.8% to 1.6%). Also, there was an increase in GPA from 3.5 to 3.9 (0.0% to 13.7%) and from 4 to 4.49 (31.9% to 33.7%). A significant correlation between exercise and GPA was found pre-and post-intervention, which increased after the intervention (r =.519, P =.04, r =.752, P =.02, respectively). Furthermore, fast food consumption decreased after the intervention (P =.002) and eating white bread among medical students declined from 74.8% to 66.9% (P =.045). Conclusion:Lifestyle intervention could assist medical students in adopting a healthy lifestyle that improves their health behaviors, physical activity and academic performance.

Impact of Obesity on Self-Esteem and Academic Performance among Medical Students in Al-Rayan Colleges, Al-Madinah

“…A study done at Shaqra University showed that 25.4% of medical students were overweight and 19.3% were obese [13]. This high prevalence could be due to unhealthy lifestyle behavior, as shown by a recent study in our department, which found that fast food consumption decreased after healthy lifestyle interventions for 8 weeks ( p = 0.002) and eating white bread among medical students declined from 74.8% to 66.9% ( p = 0.045) [14].…”

Results of a controlled study in lifestyle medicine in a cohort of preclinical medical students

“…[8][9][10][11] Some programs have focused on only one aspect of lifestyle, such as nutrition 12 or stress management, 13 other programs have included more than one area of lifestyle change simultaneously. [14][15][16] Overall, however, there is a paucity of literature on the effects of incorporating LM into medical curricula.…”