The Relationship between the Symptoms of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Dietary Pattern of Selected College Going Girls

Background PCOS usually begins in adolescence, and it is difficult to predict whether the symptoms of the syndrome will self correct or persist into adulthood. (Kitzinger and Willmott, 2002), It has been proposed that women with PCOS might be at an increased risk of eating disorders given the propensity for obesity in PCOS (Geller et al, 2011). Objective To carry out the dietary assessment of selected college going girls with and without the risk of PCOS. Materials and methods A Prospective observational design was adopted and the sampling method used in this study is a non-probability sampling technique. Study was conducted for the duration of three months, from November 2013 to February 2013 and 231 subjects were participate in this study. A questionnaire having the details of dietary pattern and food frequency was collected from study subjects. RESULTS 231 college going girls had a median age of 18.86 1.4 years (ranging from 18 to 21 years) was selected for the study. Based on Rotterdam criteria and severity of the condition, 74 subjects (32 percent) were categorized as moderate risk subjects, among the total of 87 (37.6 percent) risk subjects who expected or predicted to have PCOS. Among the selected subjects majority 210 (90.9 percent) subjects were found to be non vegetarian. It was observed that, 71 (30.7 percent) subjects in the total and 27 (11.6 percent) subjects in the risk group have the habit of taking only one meal per day. Majority 117 (50.6 percent) subjects in the total and 39 (16.8 percent) in the risk group were used to skip their breakfast usually. Only 127 (55 percent) subjects and 49 (21 percent) subjects in the risk group have the habit of taking vegetables daily and 74 (32 percent) subjects in the total and 36 (15.5 percent) in the risk group have the habit of taking fruits daily. Inclusion of green leafy vegetables for past two months was found to be regular in 86 (37 percent) subjects in total and 17 (7.3 percent) in the risk group subjects.47 (20.3 percent) subjects in the total and 16 (6.9 percent) in the risk group were including non vegetarian foods very frequently and only three subjects (1.3 percent) having the habit of taking soft drinks. Majority 119 (51.5 percent) subjects in the total and 53 (22.9 percent) subjects in the risk group were not having the habit of taking food outside and 41 subjects (17.7 percent) in the total and 12 (5.1 subjects) in the risk group have the habit of taking food outside very often. Among them majority of the subjects 120 (51.9 percent) subjects in the total and 44 (19 percent) subjects in the risk group were preferred to have deep fried foods. Majority 135 (58.4 percent) subjects in the total and 50 (21.6 percent) subjects in the risk group were preferred to have Sweets or Chocolates maximum time. Conclusion In this study, 74 subjects (32 percent) were not only be categorised as moderate risk of PCOS, they were also expected to do modifications in their dietary pattern along with medications, which helps in relieving the presenting symptoms without any adverse side-effects. However, follow-ups for three to six months were needed to evaluate the effect of dietary management over the symptoms of identified PCOS risk subjects.