International Journal of Scientific Reports

Deotale MK et al. Int J Sci Rep. 2015 May;1(1):74-79

http://www.sci-rep.com pISSN 2454-2156 | eISSN 2454-2164

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/issn.2454-2156.IntJSciRep20150206
Research Article

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among medical students

and their knowledge, attitude and practices about obesity
Manjusha Kashinath Deotale1*, U. Ranganathan2, S. V. Akarte2
1
Department of Community Medicine, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Medical College, Amravati-444603, MH, India
2
Department of Community Medicine, Grant Medical College, JJH, Mumbai, MH, India

Received: 23 April 2015

Accepted: 25 April 2015

*Correspondence:
Dr. Manjusha Kashinath Deotale,
E-mail: manju_deotale@rediffmail.com

Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

Background: Overweight and obesity are recognized as an “escalating epidemic” affecting both developed and
developing countries. Obesity is associated with a large number of debilitating and life- threatening disorders such as
cardiovascular, metabolic and other non-communicable diseases. The childhood roots of adult obesity are widely
recognized which calls for health promotion targeted at youth. Objectives: 1) To study the prevalence of obesity
among medical students 2) To assess their knowledge, attitude and practices about obesity.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 300 medical students from all batches of MBBS course i.e.
Ist, IInd, IIIrd and final MBBS in Feb 2009 to March 2009 in Grant medical college Mumbai. A predesigned and
pretested questionnaire was used as data collection tool and height and weight were measured and BMI was
calculated.
Results: Majority (52%) were in the age group of 18-20. 61% were males and 39% were female. 25% (75) were day
scholars and 75% were hostellers. When assessed about knowledge about obesity, 100% students scored 50% and
above. Majority of them had positive attitude but lack of appropriate behaviour and practices. Prevalence of
overweight and obesity according to WHO classification was 14.7% and 3% respectively and according to Asia-
Pacific guidelines it was 9.3% and 18.4% respectively.
Conclusions: Promotion of daily physical activity in the form of outdoor games, Yoga, walking are recommended.
Nutritional education on dietary practices and life style change should be built in as supporting educational activity
during student years.

Keywords: Obesity, Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, Medical students

INTRODUCTION and behavioural factors, are implicated as contributing

factors to obesity.3,4
Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading cause for
global deaths. At least 2.8 million adults die each year as It is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, hypertension,
a result of being overweight or obese.1 stroke, coronary heart diseases, gall bladder diseases,
arthritis, colon cancer, psychological problems and so on.
The prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled between The social implications of obesity are a major problem
1980 and 2008. 65% of the world’s population lives in a area that is often neglected. The obese, do less well
country where overweight and obesity kills more people academically, have poorer job prospects and lower self-
than underweight.2 A variety of factors, including diet, esteem.5
genetic predisposition, physical activities, physiological

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 Deotale MK et al. Int J Sci Rep. 2015 May;1(1):74-79

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or Informed consent was obtained from the participants and
excessive fat accumulation in the body but is ethical approval obtained from institutional ethical
impracticable for epidemiological use. The body mass committee.
index (weight/height2) is widely used in adult populations
to assess overweight and obesity. World Health Statistical analysis was done using SPSS-16. Mean,
Organization (WHO) defines overweight as a BMI equal Standard Deviation (SD), Standard Error (SE), 95%
to or more than 25, and obesity as a BMI equal to or more confidence intervals were calculated. Normality of the
than 30.1 The Western Pacific Regional Office of the data was checked by Kolmogorov Smirnov test. As the
World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended underlying distribution was non-normal Chi square test of
lowering the BMI cut off levels for Asian people to 23.0 significance was used, P value of <0.05 was taken as
for overweight and 25.0 for obesity.6 statistically significant. BMI was associated with
sociodemographic variables, dietary and lifestyle factors.
Medical students are more prone to obesity due to their
lifestyle with less physical activity and disordered eating RESULTS
habits and thereby are prone to obesity related health
hazards. Medical student was the target group of Table 1 shows sociodemographic characteristics of study
particular interest for this study as they are future population. Out of 300 medical students, 60% (182) were
physicians and if they are overweight or obese they males and 40% (118) were females. Majority (53.3%)
would carry wrong impression on general population. were in the age group of 18-20 years and 46.7% were in
With this background present study was conducted with the age group of 21-23 years. 25% (75) were day scholars
objectives to study prevalence of obesity among medical and 75% were hostellers. 26.7% were from first MBBS,
students and to assess their knowledge, attitude and 30% were from second MBBS and 43.3% were from
practices about obesity. final MBBS.

METHODS Table 2 shows prevalence of overweight and obesity

among medical students. According to WHO
A cross sectional study was conducted in 305 medical international classification prevalence of overweight and
students from all batches of MBBS course i.e. Ist, IInd, obesity was 14.33% and 3.34% respectively and
IIIrd and final MBBS in Feb 2009 to March 2009 in according to Asia-Pacific guidelines it was 9.67% and
Grant Medical College Mumbai. 17.66% respectively.

All students ranged in the age group of 18-23 years. Out Table 1: Sociodemographic profile of study
of 305, 80 were from 1st year, 95 were from 2nd year and participants.
130 were from final MBBS part I and part II. Five
refused to participate in the study, so actual population Frequency
Factors Percentage
which participated in the study was 300. (n=300)
Age (years)
No specific sampling technique was used, the students 18-20 160 53.3
which were present at time of data collection and had 21-23 140 46.7
given informed consent were included in study. Sex
M 183 61
Data collection: A structured pretested questionnaire was
F 117 39
given to each student which included questions about
Religion
knowledge, attitude and practices about obesity. Weight
and height were measured by standard techniques. Hindu 248 82.7
Weight was measured using normal weighing scale with Muslims 36 12
no shoes. Height was recorded using a measuring tape, Others 16 5.3
with the individual standing straight next to the wall, with Residence
the heels, buttocks, shoulders and occipit touching the Hostel 225 75
wall without shoes. The Body Mass Index was calculated Day scholars 75 25
using the formula Year of MBBS
Ist 80 26.7
BMI = weight (Kg)/Height2 (m2) IInd 90 30
IIIrd and final 130 43.3
Adequate daily physical activity was defined as moderate
to severe the physical activity of at least 60 min/day as When assessed about knowledge about obesity, all
recommended by Global recommendations on physical students scored 5 and above out of 10 with mean of 9.1 ±
activity for Health, World Health Organization
1.06 SD.
publication 2010.7

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 Deotale MK et al. Int J Sci Rep. 2015 May;1(1):74-79

Out of 300 students, 14% (42) were purely vegetarian and Only 23 out of 300 agreed that they smoke, 10 started
86% (258) consumed mixed diet. 5.7% consumed non- smoking since 1 year, 9 started it since 2 years and 4
veg daily, 55% consumed non-veg weekly, 12.7% students smoke since 3 years. 20 students smoke 3-4
consumed it once a month and 12.7% consumed it twice cigarettes per day, 3 student smoke >4 cigarettes per day.
a month. 26% students didn’t have fixed timing of meals.
Only 9 out of 300 agreed that they consume alcoholic
Table 2: WHO classification according to BMI.1 beverages, of these 7 consume beer occasionally, 2
consume wine occasionally. 80.3% take 6-8 hours of
Classification BMI Frequency Percentage sleep, 19.7% take 8-10 hours of sleep.
Underweight <18.5 39 13
Normal range 18.5-24.99 208 69.33 Table 3 and 4 shows association of BMI with
Over weight >25.0-29.99 43 14.33 sociodemographic, dietary and life style factors.
Obese class I 30.0-34.99 10 3.34
Obese class II 35.0-39.99 0 0 When BMI was associated with various factors like age,
Obese class III >40.00 0 0 sex, religion, place of residence (hostel/home), year of
MBBS, type of food (veg/non-veg/mixed), timing of
BMI according to Asia-pacific guidelines of WHO6
meals, eating in the canteen, skipping breakfast, eating
Underweight <18.5 39 13
junk food or carbonated soft drinks, drinking coffee,
Normal range 18.5-22.99 179 59.67 taking meals while watching T.V., eating
Over weight 23-24.99 29 9.67 chocolate/sweets/desserts after food, munching between
Obese class I 25-29.99 43 14.33 the meals, participation in outdoor activity, smoking and
Obese class II >30 10 3.33 alcohol consumption significant association was found
between BMI and sex (P = 0.000), skipping breakfast (P
Only, 23.3% (70) students carry tiffin to college and = 0.016), eating junk food or carbonated drink (P =
76.7% (230) eat in canteen daily of which 17% eat 0.001), drinking coffee (P = 0.000), taking meals while
weekly, 5.3% eat once a month. 63% (189) skip their watching T.V. (P = 0.007), eating
breakfast 2-3 times a week while 37% (111) never skip chocolates/sweets/desserts after food daily (P = 0.000),
their breakfast. 27.7% (83) skip lunch/dinner once a munching between meals (P = 0.000).
week, 0.7% (2) skip it twice a week and 71.7% (215)
never skip lunch or dinner. Table 3: Association of BMI with sociodemographic
factors.
13.3% (40) consumed junk food and carbonated soft
drinks daily, 80.3% (241) consumed it sometimes, 6.3% Over-
(19) never consumed junk food. 67.3% (202) drink 1-2 Under- weight χ2 P
Factors Normal
cups of tea or coffee per day, 27.3% (82) drink 2-4 cups weight and value value
per day 3.3% (10) drink >4 cups per day, 2% (6) never obese
drink tea or coffee. Age (years)
18-20 23 89 48
69.3% (208) takes meals while watching T.V. of which 18.37 0.826
21-23 18 87 34
18.7% (56) daily take meal while watching T.V., 55% Sex
(166) take it occasionally and 26.3% (79) never take it M 16 101 65
while watching T.V. 23.40 0.000*
F 25 75 17
Religion
60% replace vegetables with pickles or chutney
Hindu 34 145 68
occasionally. 66% (198) eat chocolate/sweets/desserts
after food, of which 8.3% (25) eat it daily, 57.3% (173) Muslims 6 21 9 11.16 0.345
eat it occasionally, while 34% (102) don’t eat it. 51.7% Others 1 10 5
(155) have habit of munching between meals, of which Residence
5% munch daily, 46.3% munch occasionally, while Hostel 35 128 61
48.3% (145) don’t have this habit. Day 8.02 0.155
6 48 21
scholars
91.3% (274) don’t participate in outdoor activity and only Year of MBBS
8.7% (26) students participate in outdoor activity as Ist 12 47 21
walking (1%), swimming (1.3%), sports (3.7%) or IInd 12 50 28
gymnasium (2.7%). frequency: daily - 19 (6.3), 2.70 0.988
IIIrd and
occasionally - 3 (1%), weekly - 4 (1.3%). All 300 17 79 33
Final
students were concerned about their weight, 96% were
concerned about their weight for lifestyle aerobics, *Statistically significant
exercise should be practiced for maintaining weight but
only 7% were actually practicing it.

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 Deotale MK et al. Int J Sci Rep. 2015 May;1(1):74-79

Table 4: Association of BMI with dietary and lifestyle factors.

Underweight Overweight χ2 P
Normal
(n=300) and obese value value
Dietary habits
Frequency of eating non-veg food
Daily 4 8 5 29.59 0.077
Weekly 15 103 47
Twice a month 7 21 9
Once a month 9 22 7
Never 6 22 14
Frequency of eating in hotel or canteen
Daily 36 136 60 10.49 0.398
Weekly 4 30 17
Twice a month 1 10 5
Once a month 2 6 5
Never 33 137 60
Frequency of skipping breakfast
Daily 0 0 0 13.19 0.022*
2-3 times a week 33 100 55
Never 8 76 27
Frequency of skipping lunch/dinner
Once a week 24 42 16 30.44 0.001*
Twice a week 1 1 0
Thrice a week 0 0 5
Never 16 133 62
Frequency of eating junk food or carbonated soft drinks
Daily 3 22 15 19.04 0.040*
Sometimes 32 143 65
Never 6 11 2
Frequency of drinking coffee
<2 cups per day 31 124 46 53.12 0.000*
2-4 cups per day 5 47 30
>4 cups per day 0 4 6
Never drink 5 1 0
Frequency of taking meals while watching T.V./reading
Daily 0 18 39 77.60 0.000*
Occasionally 22 110 42
Never 17 51 11
Frequency of Eating chocolate/sweets after food
Daily 0 2 25 1.27 0.000*
Occasionally 6 120 47
Never 33 57 10
Frequency of munching between meals
Daily 1 1 15 1.01 0.000*
Occasionally 29 63 47
Never 9 115 20
Life style factors
Participation in outdoor activity
Yes
Daily 0 13 6 44.25 0.000*
Occasionally 0 1 2
Weekly 1 2 1
No 38 163 73

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 Deotale MK et al. Int J Sci Rep. 2015 May;1(1):74-79

Underweight Overweight χ2 P
Normal
(n=300) and obese value value
Smoking
Yes 35 169 73 0.940 0.33
No 4 10 9
Alcohol consumption
Yes 35 173 82 2.04 0.727
No 4 3 2
Hours of sleep
<6 hours 0 0 0 96.93 0.000*
6-8 hours 38 166 37
>8 hours 1 13 45

*Statistically significant

DISCUSSION al.13 in their study also observed that physical exercise

and outdoor sports did not have a significant influence on
Prevalence of overweight and obesity according to WHO body weight.
international classification was 14.33% and 3.34%
respectively and according to WHO classification for When assessed about knowledge, attitude and practices
Asian population 9.67% and 17.66% respectively. Study about obesity, study revealed that majority of the medical
conducted by Manojan KK et al. reported prevalence of students were aware about the risk factors of obesity but
24.57% overweight and 25.71% obesity using Asia there were many gaps identified in their knowledge
Pacific guidelines among medical students of Trivandrum which needs to be bridged. Regular exercise was cited as
district of Kerala, India.8 In the study9 the prevalence of the most common measure for prevention of development
overweight and obesity among medical students based on of obesity. Similar results were obtained from other
Asia-Pacific guideline was (31.10%) and 11 (5.26%) studies.14,15 Our study has limitations also, it was an
respectively. This clearly indicates that the prevalence of institution-based study. We have not measured the lipid
overweight/obesity in India is on a rise. Compared to profile, Waist/Hip ratio of the participants.
these studies our study reported lesser prevalence. In our
study BMI was significantly associated with sex, CONCLUSIONS
skipping breakfast, eating junk food or carbonated drink,
drinking coffee, taking meals while watching T.V., eating Prevalence of overweight and obesity according to WHO
chocolates/sweets/desserts after food daily, munching classification was 14.33% and 3.34% respectively and
between meals. In our study proportion of obesity was according to Asia-pacific guidelines prevalence of
significantly higher among males as compared to females overweight and obesity is 9.67% and 17.66 %
this may be because of females are more cautious about respectively.
their weight status than males, due to society perceptions
which encourage females to be slender. This finding is Students have good knowledge and positive attitude but
consistent with Gupta S et al.10 study wherein 21.43% of lack of appropriate behaviour and practices. The study
males and 20.45% of females were overweight and obese. reinforces the need to encourage healthy lifestyle, healthy
The role of tea/coffee/fruit juice/soda based soft drinks as food habits and a physically active daily routine, among
found out by systematic review by Malik et al.11 show medical students to prevent obesity related disease
strong evidence for weight gain. The busy schedule of epidemic.
college hours with less time for lunch/breakfast
contributes to the habit of drinking tea/coffee/fruit juices Funding: No funding sources
more frequently throughout the day. Our findings also Conflict of interest: None declared
correlate with the studies.8,11,12 Lack of physical activity is Ethical approval: The study was approved by the
known risk factor for obesity but in our study no institutional ethics committee
significant association was found this may be because
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Akarte SV. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among
medical students and their knowledge, attitude and
practices about obesity. Int J Sci Rep 2015;1(1):74-9.

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