Prevalence of obesity among the medical students: a cross sectional study in a south Indian medical college

Introduction: In recent years obesity has become very common health concern worldwide. Much debate has been generated regarding the increasing incidence of obesity among children and adolescents with respect to their long term health benefits. Obesity has always been associated with what we eat and how we eat. Thus, the objective of our present study was to determine the relationship between eating speed and obesity among medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal, India. We also aimed at finding out the factors that affect the eating speed of a person. Methods: A survey was conducted for the first year medical students of MMMC, Manipal campus. The participants consisted of 506 students aged 18-24 years. The survey included a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included a diet history items that required recall of dietary habits over 2 months. Weight and height of the participants were taken in order to calculate Body mass index (BMI), which was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. Comparison between the speed of eating and the BMI values were obtained for analysis. Results: Our results showed that the majority of the obese subjects are linked to very fast eating rate which is less than 15 minutes. It is made up of 65% of the total number of subjects in obese category. Conclusion: Our study, found a positive correlation between the eating rates and BMI in students between the age group 18-24. This shows that the rate of eating can be a causative factor for obesity.