Overweight among Medical Students in a Medical College

ABSTRACT Introduction: Overweight is defined as a condition in which abnormal accumulation of fat directly affects an individual personality and health leading to a marked increase in morbidity and mortality. It has a direct impact on both the psychological aspects of an individual's personality and their overall health. The objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of overweight among medical students in a medical college. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done among first and second-year medical students in a medical college between 20 February 2023 to 3 March 2023 after receiving ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee. Students studying Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Dental Surgery during the study period who gave consent were included and those students with a recent medical history of fever, typhoid, diarrhoea, thyroid disorder, metabolic disorders, or any other relevant medical condition within the preceding 1 month, potentially influencing body weight, were excluded. A convenience sampling method was used. The point estimate was calculated at a 95% Confidence Interval. Results: Among 164 students, the prevalence of overweight was 43 (26.22%) (19.49-32.95, 95% Confidence Interval). The mean age was 20.65±1.08 years. Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight among medical students was higher than in other studies done in similar settings.


INTRODUCTION
Overweight is defined as a condition in which abnormal accumulation of fat directly affects an individual personality and health leading to a marked increase in morbidity and mortality. 1A significant rise in the prevalence of overweight has been observed in the last decades worldwide increasing the risk factors for non-communicable diseases. 2cording to a previous study in 2016, more than 1.9 billion people aged 18 years and over were overweight and equally affected in any age group, ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic conditions. 3The prevalence of overweight among medical students could not be neglected as some studies showed prevalence as high as 21.6%. 4Medical students are at high risk for the development of overweight.So, it is important to evaluate its burden to ensure the preventive measures against its negative consequences.
The objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of overweight among medical students in a medical college.

METHODS
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among the first and second-year medical students of KIST Medical College, Mahalaxmi, Lalitpur, Nepal from 20 February 2023 to 03 March 2023.Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Committee of the same institute (Reference number: 2079/80/89).Students studying Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) of first and second year and those who gave consent were included and those students with a recent medical history of fever, typhoid, diarrhoea, thyroid disorder, metabolic disorders, or any other relevant medical condition within the preceding one months, potentially influencing body weight, were excluded.Informed consent was obtained from the study participants.A convenience sampling method was used.The sample size was calculated using the following formula: n= Z 2 x p x q e 2 = 1.96

RESULTS
Among 164 students, the prevalence of overweight was 43 (26.22%)(19.49-32.95,95% CI) and the mean age was 20.65±1.08 years.In this study, male and female students were almost similar (Figure 1).

DISCUSSION
The prevalence of overweight in our study was 26.22% among medical students.This finding was slightly higher than the study done on other medical college students in Nepal which found the prevalence of being overweight as around 19.94%. 1 In our study the male and female prevalence of overweight was similar but males showed more prevalence than females study done in another medical college in Nepal. 1 The prevalence of overweight in Dehradun, India is 21% which was slightly lower than in our study but similar to another study done in Malaysia. 4,5The prevalence of overweight was higher in male students than females in Malaysia but higher in females than males study done in India. 5,47][8] A similar study done in Jammu India which was found around 19% prevalence of overweight which was slightly lower than in our study. 9 The limitations of this study were that the study is confined only to basic science medical students with similar age groups and socio-economic backgrounds with a small sample size so the result cannot be generalized to the larger population.

CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of overweight among medical students was higher than in other studies done in similar settings.