Effects of physical activity and its barriers on overweight/obesity, among medical students of Rama medical college Kanpur (U.P.)

Introduction: Obesity is emerging as a serious problem throughout the world, not only among adults but also children, teenagers and young adults. Of the factors contributing to obesity, stress seems to be particularly important as stressful condition leads to irregularity in diet, lack of exercise and addiction, each being considered an independent factor leading to obesity. Objectives: To find out the prevalence of overweight and obesity among medical students. To study the effects of physical activity on over weight /obesity and its Barriers among medical students of Rama Medical College Mandhana (Kanpur). Study Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted among total 200 subjects included by simple random sampling method out of 480 medical students. Material and Methods: Anthropometric measurements (height and weight) were taken as per WHO criteria. Body mass index were calculated and classified accordingly as under weight normal weight, over weight and obese. Details of factors influencing BMI were obtained using a pretested questionnaire in a pilot study. Results The study revealed high prevalence of overweight/Obesity (33.6% with 95% CI 33.5%-40%).Out of 200 subjects (25.5%)were overweight and (8.1%) found obese respectively rest 61% subjects with Normal weight and 5.5% were under weight. In our study only 106 (57%) subjects were physically active and 94 (47%) were physically not active having deferent barriers to physical activity. Among those who were physically not active, 22(23.40%) students reported personal barriers as a cause for physical inactivity. 23(24.46%) were having psychological barriers. But majority of subjects 49 (52.13%) were having social cognitive behavior related barriers to physical activity. Conclusion: Increased prevalence of overweight and obesity among medical students were observed. The importance of regular physical activity and certain aspects of healthy life style are to be stressed. Social cognitive behavior related barriers to physical activity should be removed among future doctors who are not physically active.