Publication:

A cross-sectional study to find out the prevalence and determinants of obesity and hypertension among medical students in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh

Background Obesity is one of the major lifestyle disorders in India and its incidence is increasing during recent decades. Medical students are more prone for obesity, due to their sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, disordered eating habits due to lack of leisure time, increased stress and vast topics to learn. So, this study was done with the aim to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the Medical College students and also to assess the factors influencing it.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among second- and third-year medical students of Maa Vindhyawasini Autonomous State Medical College, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. The study was conducted from August 2024 to September 2024 for two months. The total sample included 140 students. The information collected was entered in MS Excel, and analysis was done using SPSS version 2. The written informed Consent of the study participants was obtained. The ethical clearance was obtained from the institute, and confidentiality was maintained during the study.

Results We found that 20% were overweight-at risk, 27.1% had grade 1 obesity and 2.8% had grade 2 obesity among medical students. 4.6% males and 9.3% females were underweight, 42.6% males and 50% females had normal BMI while 52.8% males and 40.7% females were overweight. Overweight was more prevalent in males.

Conclusions The prevalence was found to be high among medical college students which were contributed by various factors. This can be reduced by modifying their diet, engaging in regular physical activity.