Pattern Of Fast Food Consumption Among Medical Students And Its Association With Obesity

Abstract

Background: Fast food consumption has been
linked to obesity as it contains high saturated fatty
acids, sugar, salt, and calories. We conducted this
study to determine the pattern of fast food
consumption amongst medical students and to
assess the association of fast food consumption with
obesity.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted
at Rawalpindi Medical University from February to
March 2017. 250 medical students were selected
through stratified random sampling technique. A
structured questionnaire was used to collect data
regarding student’s gender, socio-demographic
profile, fast food eating practices, and body mass
index (BMI). Data was analyzed using SPSS version
21.
Results: There were 150 (60%) female and 100 (40%)
male students. Mean age of participants was
20.63±1.69 years and mean BMI was 22.14±3.70
Kg/m2
. 218 (87.2%) students consumed fast food
products almost daily to at least once a week on an
average, 32 (12.8%) students consumed fast food
rarely. Most commonly eaten fast food items were
French fries (31%), Pizza and burgers (23% and 15%
respectively). 64.8% of fast food consumers had
normal weight, 2.0% were obese while, 17.2% and
16.0% fell into categories of overweight and
underweight respectively. There was no association
between obesity and being overweight with fast
food consumption (p-value=0.94).
Conclusion: High proportions of medical students
consume fast food items, however there is no
statistically significant association between fast food
consumption and obesity.
Key Words: BMI, Obesity, Fast Foods, Medical
students, Overweight.