Frequency of Pre-obesity and Obesity in Medical Students of Karachi and the Predisposing Lifestyle Habits

Abstract

Background: The global incidence of pre-obesity and obesity is rising noticeably. Where medical students should be advocating healthy lifestyles, they are actually indulging in unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. This is resulting in an increased incidence of obesity in this population.Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted from September 2018 till January 2019 in four medical colleges of Karachi. Sociodemographic profile, body mass index (BMI), food habits, and exercise routine of the students were recorded. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 22 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).Results: The mean BMI of the study population was 21.717 ± 4.33 kg/m2 (range: 16.24–38.19). The mean age was 21.345 ± 1.4709 years with a minimum of 17 years and maximum of 25 years. The combined frequency of pre-obese and obese students was 33.2%. Among these, there were more women (60.6%) than men (39.3%). Among these pre-obese and obese students, 55% had breakfast rarely to sometimes, 47.9% took four or more meals per day, 39.3% consumed fast food thrice weekly or more, and 58.1% consumed soft-drinks/juices alternate to every day. Among the students who indulged into binge eating when stressed, 56.9% were pre-obese to obese. The nutritional status of the study sample was significantly associated with female gender, living status with parents, irregular breakfast, infrequent daily meals, increased consumption of fast food and beverages, decreased consumption of red meat, sedentary lifestyle, and altered eating habits when stressed.Conclusion: The incidence of pre-obesity and obesity is noticeably escalating among young adults. If this trend continues, obesity-related complications will form the major chunk of medical illnesses in the near future. Strategies are needed to nip this dilemma in the bud by indulging in healthy and clean eating habits and performing regular physical activity.

Obesity And Its Related Factors Among University Medical Students In Syria: A Cross- Sectional Study

“…Shisha was also associated with increased BMI. Another study from Karachi from Pakistan found that the mean BMI among medical students was 21.72 ± 4.33 kg/m 2 (21) which is closer to our study. Shisha was found by other studies that is associated with higher BMI and increased waist circumference (22,23).…”

“…Seong Ah Ha et al (4) reported that overweight school students eat snacks less frequently than normal weight which is somewhat similar to our ndings Depression was associated with increased BMI in the previous study in Syria (12), which is also true in our study. In a Pakistani study, 56.9% of the medical students, who declared that they tended to binge eat when stressed, were obese (21).…”

“…It was noted that among obese and pre-obese Pakistani medical students that 55% of them rarely had breakfast, 47.9% took four meals or more daily, 39.3% had fast-food meals for at least three times a week and 58.1% drank soft-drinks or juices almost every day. Moreover, obesity was associated with a decreased consumption of red meat (21).…”

Characteristics of Body Composition and Lifestyle in Chinese University Students with Normal-Weight Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Unhealthy lifestyles are considered a significant cause of excessive body fat accumulation among university students. 17 , 18 It has been reported that NWO, overweight and obese people have a significantly higher incidence of unhealthy lifestyles (such as poor diet, sedentary behavior and lack of physical activity) than people with normal fat. 7 , 19 Considering the importance of unhealthy lifestyles on body composition and potential health threats, it is extremely urgent to find the potential link between them in young university students, particularly in NWO students.…”

Correlation Between Peak Expiratory Flow Rate, Markers of Adiposity, and Anthropometric Measures in Medical Students in Pakistan

“…Several studies conclude that obesity is also rampant in medical students [ 5 - 6 ]. Recent scholarly work done in Karachi, Pakistan, similarly demonstrates that nearly a third of medical students can be classified as obese [ 7 ].…”