Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Obesity is a disease that affects almost 1/3rd of the adult population. As the pandemic of overweight and obesity around the globe continues to rise, many developing countries face a double burden of over nutrition and under nutrition. The present study was conducted to estimate the risk factors leading to obesity among study population. Materials & methods: This study was conducted on 300 college students in year 2015. Subjects were informed regarding the study and consent was taken. A predesigned questionnaire was used to collect the information such as name, age, gender, ethnic origin and their present weight (Kg) and height (m). Weight and height of all subjects were measured using standardized weighing machine and a height measuring scale. All subjects were subjected to BMI and was calculated by dividing a person's body weight by their height (weight [kg] / height [m]2). A following criteria was used- BMI of 30 - obese, a BMI of 25.0 - 29.9 - Pre-obese and a BMI 23 to 24.9 - overweight/pre-obese. Results: Out of 300 subjects, males were 140 and females were 160. The difference was non - significant (P – 0.1). Subjects were underweight (males- 21, females- 24), normal weight (males- 68, females- 77), over weight (males- 20, females- 22), pre- obese (males- 23, females- 25) and obese (males- 8, females- 12). The difference among both genders was non- significant (P > 0.05). Thus, the prevalence of overweight subjects was 14% and obese was 6.6%. Out of 140 males, 60 were from rural and 80 were from urban population. Out of 160 females, 70 were from rural and 90 were from urban population. The difference was non - significant (P> 0.05). Subjects were of Indian origin and chinese origin. Among Indians, they were underweight (41), normal (139), over weight (37), pre- obese (46) and obese (17). Among Chinese, they were underweight (4), normal (6), over weight (5), pre- obese (2) and obese (3). The difference was significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Obesity is increasing in today’s life style. There is urgent demand of adopting healthy healthy food habits, lifestyles, and a physically active daily routine, among the adults to minimize dangers of the risks of developing chronic degenerative diseases.
Key words: Nutrition, Obesity, Urban