Awareness of BMI and life style including physical activity, food habits and personal history among first year medical students at a rural medical college setup in Kerala

Journal Title: Medpulse International Journal of Biochemistry - Year 2018, Vol 7, Issue 2

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Medical education is stressful throughout the course of training. The extensive amount of material knowledge to be absorbed, social isolation, pressure of examination, discrepancies between expectation and reality all can be anticipated to bring psychological stress. As future physicians and health care providers, it is generally assumed that the medicos have better knowledge about healthy life style and dietary practices when compared to their peer age group undergoing other courses. However there is no evidence to indicate that the knowledge which has been gained is translated into practice. Also medical students have been shown to exhibit early risk factors for chronic diseases. This study is designed to assess the awareness of body mass index and life style including physical activity, food habits and personal history among first year medical college students at a rural medical college in Kerala. Material and methods: The study was done at PK Das Institute of Medical Science, Vaniamkulam, Ottapalam, Kerala, 134 first year medical college students were enrolled. The study was conducted between December2017 to May 2018. A written consent was obtained from the entire student. A structured questionnaire was given to all the participants. Results obtained was tabulated and expressed in percentage. Result and Conclusion: As future physicians and health care providers it is very important for medical college students to have good physical health and fitness .This study has shown 71.61% of students are unaware about BMI, 49.2% do not do any physical activity, 80% do not know their calorie requirement and only 5.9% are knowing their lipid profile. Policy makers and curriculum designers should lay importance on hands on skills rather than to have material knowledge imparted. Practical sessions should include anthropometry, calculation of BMI and calorie requirement. Nutrition should be added as a practical session. De-stressing activities and yoga can be added as a part of the curriculum.

Authors and Affiliations

Santhosh Viswan, Vishnu Radhakrishnan, Jagathlal P C, C S Bharathan, Dona Devasia

Keywords

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  • EP ID EP410276
  • DOI -
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How To Cite

Santhosh Viswan, Vishnu Radhakrishnan, Jagathlal P C, C S Bharathan, Dona Devasia (2018). Awareness of BMI and life style including physical activity, food habits and personal history among first year medical students at a rural medical college setup in Kerala. Medpulse International Journal of Biochemistry, 7(2), 21-24. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-410276