Journal of Islamabad Medical & Dental College (JIMDC); 2015:4(1):27-30
Original Article
Categories of Overweight and Underweight Students
According to Body Mass Index in a Private Medical
College
Muhammad Afzal1, Farwa Rizvi2, Abdul Majid Rajput3
research officer, Department of Community Medicine, Islamabad Medical and Dental College
2 Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Islamabad Medical and Dental College
3 HOD, Department of Community Medicine, Islamabad Medical and Dental College
(Bahria University, Islamabad)
1 Senior
Obesity.
Abstract
Objectives: To determine the frequency of overweight
Introduction
and underweight students according to categories of Body
mass index in a private medical college.
College and university is a new environment for
the students, a challenging one as well as exciting and this is
also a time to take greater responsibility, which
encompasses making one’s own health decisions that may
have lasting impact on health.1 Arnett J J classifies the age
of 18-25 as “emerging adulthood.”He describes this age as a
time where young people change from adolescence to
adulthood and begin evolving views and behaviors, which
will carry into maturity.2 During this time the development
of self-identity, changing support systems, and the shifting
of interactive impacts occur and set this life stage apart from
adolescence and adulthood.3 Nelson et al. suggest that the
college years have usually been considered a time of
“optimal health and well-being”, however, dietary and
physical activity lifestyles, which may be established during
the college years, can affect the development of chronic
disease.3 In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) has underlined, poor nutrition and lack of
physical activity as two changeable risk factors that
contribute to the progress of chronic disease.4
In addition, other influences such as unhealthy
weight practices, stress, and sleep loss may disturb health.
Rates of overweight and obesity have been found to be near
40% in college students.5 However overweight and obese
college students may not be conscious of the increased
health risks linked with overweight and obesity.5 Only 8.5%
of college students eat the suggested amount of fruits and
vegetables6 and on average, consume 18 grams of fibre per
day7, below the recommendations. Moreover many college
students do not have diversity in their diets and report eating
similar types of foods everyday.8 There are several factors
impelling poor dietary habits in students, including junk
food and beverage marketing which targets college students.
Moreover late-night eating is another factor usually
observed in young generation.
College students take part in aerobic exercise an
average of 2.8 days per week, and time spent on exercise
Subjects and Methods: This cross sectional study
was conducted at Islamabad Medical and Dental College,
Islamabad, from 1st March to 1st June 2014. A total of 149
students of Islamabad Medical and Dental College, from
1st year to final year MBBS were included in the study. In
all these students body weight and height were measured
and body mass index (BMI) values were calculated.
Similarly central obesity was calculated on the basis of
waist to hip ratio and waist to height ratio. Data was
collected on the basis of a pre designed proforma and was
entered on SPSS version 16 for evaluation.
Results: The mean age of participants was 21.2 years
±1.387 SD. Among these 20 % (30) were males and 80%
(119) were female participants. The mean weight was 57.35
kg + 12.528 SD. The mean height was noted to be 165.0 cm
+8.750 SD. In the study sample, the mean BMI was 20.86 ±
4.481 SD. About 59.7% subjects under study had normal
weight, 28.9% were under weight, 9.4% over weight while
2.0% obese. Regarding waist circumference, the mean
value was 75.249+10.553 SD. Based on waist to hip ratio,
31.5% had central obesity and on the basis of waist to
height ratio, it was found that 12.8% had centrally obesity.
Conclusion: According to the results, 28.9% were
under weight, 9.4% over weight and 2.0% were obese. This
study suggests that being under-weight is coming up as a
significant problem among students of medical college. It
is therefore suggested that another study should be
carried out to find the reasons of being underweight
among the students of medical college.
Key Words:
Body mass index, College students,
Corresponding Author:
Dr Farwa Rizvi
Email: [email protected]
Received: Mach 2015; Accepted: May 15th 2015
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Journal of Islamabad Medical & Dental College (JIMDC); 2015:4(1):27-30
tends to reduce in older students. In addition, inactive
activities, such as watching television, computers etc stop
college students from participating in physical activity more
often.9
Colleges and universities can influence the health
behavior of young adults through educational programmes
on nutrition and health. Some colleges and universities have
health services and campus recreation centers which are the
main setting for nutrition education. However, due to the
many reasons, these programs have not played an effective
role and it is suggested that the health education
centers/departments should be established for college
students. Currently, there is inadequate available research on
the status of BMI of college students. Therefore, the purpose
of this study was to observe the frequency of overweight
and underweight students according to categories of Body
mass index in a private medical college.
Results
Among total of 149 medical students which were
assessed for their weight status on the basis of BMI, 80 %
(119) were female and 20% (30) were males. The mean age
of participants was calculated to be 21.2 years ± 1.387 SD,
ranging from 17-24 years. The mean weight of the students
was 57.35 kg ±12.528, with a range of 39-98 kg. Among
these, 38.9% students were <50 kg, 47.7% students were
between 50-70kg and 13.4% students were >70kg. Mean
height was 165 cm + 8.750 SD with a range of 140-190 cm.
The categorical analysis of height depicts that 3.4% students
were <150 cm, 74.5% 150-170 cm, 22.1% >170 cm.
Table 1: Distribution of weight categories and central
obesity (n 149)
BMI Status
Frequency
Percent
Material and Methods
Categorization of weight of patients
This cross sectional study was conducted at
Islamabad medical and Dental College, Islamabad, from
March 2014- June 2014. A total of 149 students were
included by Non-probability consecutive sampling from 1st
year – 5th year students of MBBS. Students who did not give
consent were excluded. In all these students body weight
and height were measured and body mass index (BMI)
values were calculated by dividing weight in kg with (height
in m2. Overweight and obesity were defined using WHO
international standard BMI cut-offs as follows.
 Underweight: BMI is less than 18.5
 Normal weight: BMI is 18.5 to 24.9
 Overweight: BMI is 25 to 29.9
 Obese: BMI is 30 or more
Similarly central obesity was calculated on the
basis of waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio.
WHR is the circumference of the waist (smallest part of the
torso, usually slightly above the navel) divided by the
circumference of the hips (largest part of the buttocks).
Range of waist to hip ratio:
Male
Female
Under weight
43
28.9
Normal weight
89
59.7
Over weight
14
9.4
Obese
3
2
Normal
102
68.5
Central
Obesity
47
31.5
Normal
130
87.2
Central obesity
19
12.8
Waist to Hip ratio
Waist to Height Ratio
0.96 to 1.0
0.81 to 0.85
The waist-to-height ratio of a person was defined as the
person's waist circumference, divided by the person's height.
Range of waist to height ratio:
Male
Female
46-53
46-49
Data was collected on the basis of a pre designed proforma.
All the collected data was entered and analyzed through
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version16).
Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data. Mean and
standard deviation were calculated for quantitative data.
Frequency and percentage were used for qualitative data.
Results were presented in table form and graphs.
In study sample, the mean BMI was 20.857±4.4813
with a range of 13.92-47.60. Among these 59.7% subjects
under study had normal weight, 28.9% were under weight,
9.4% were overweight and 2.0% were obese as given in
(table 1). Regarding waist circumference, the mean value
was 75.25 +10.553 SD and range of 29.00 - 96.50 cm. The
mean value of hip circumference was 87.790 cm + 10.317
SD with range of 63.0 - 114.30 cm. Based on waist to hip
ratio, 68.5% were normal while 31.5% had central obesity
(Table 1). On the basis of waist to height ratio, it was found
that 87.2% were normal while 12.8% had central obesity
(Table 1).
28
Journal of Islamabad Medical & Dental College (JIMDC); 2015:4(1):27-30
Discussion
Conclusion
This study evaluated the body mass index of the
medical students to check the prevalence of obesity among
medical students. The current study was conducted on
students of a private medical college in Islamabad from 1st
to final year, for duration of six months.
In our study most (59.7%) students had a normal
BMI. These findings were almost comparable to a study
conducted at a Malaysian medical school which showed that
68.8% of students in their study were normal.10 In a similar
study at Lahore Medical & Dental College, Lahore 60% had
a normal BMI.11 In another study in students of Omani
medical college 59% were normal.12 A larger study done on
students of 22 countries; 64.4% had normal BMI.13 A study
conducted at Dow medical college14 showed similar results
with 59% of students having normal BMI. From a
Malaysian medical college it was reported that 69% of
students had a normal BMI.15
In the present study 28.9% were under weight.
Similar findings have been reported in different studies (615% being under weight).10-13 However a study done at Dow
Medical University among students of Dow Medical
College to calculate frequency of different BMI categories,
showed that the overall prevalence of underweight students
was 29.9% that was especially in girls.16 Being underweight
should be considered a serious health problem among
adolescent students as it has many important medical
implications and could lead to psychological and physical
disorders including infertility,17-20 and need to be addressed
timely.16 In our study 9.4% are overweight. In a similar
study at Malaysian medical school 12.9% were
overweight.10 A study at LMDC Lahore showed 27% were
overweight.11 Being over-weight is coming up as a
significant problem in both male and female students. In
another study among students of 22 countries 18.9 were
overweight.13 The frequency of students falling in
overweight category in the students of Dow Medical
College is 2.7%.16 This low percentage in Karachi students
is probably ethnicity related. A study on medical students of
Ribat University, Khartoum, India reported that 18% of their
students were overweight.17
The present study showed that 2% of students were
obese. These findings are comparable to the results of other
studies reporting 3.3%, 7%, 5.8% and 8% in different
studies.10,11,13,15 The frequency of students falling in obese
category in the students of Dow Medical College was just
0.6%16 which may be due to difference in the socioeconomic
status between students of public and private sector medical
college. A study on medical students of Ribat University,
Khartoum, India reported obesity to be 9%.17
In our study the percentage of students with central obesity
(according to waist to height ratio) is 12.8%. A similar study
done in Greece reported that the percentage of central
obesity among student using waist to height ratio is 13%.21
This study suggests that obesity and being
overweight is not a major problem among students of a
medical college but being under-weight is coming up as a
significant problem among students of medical college. It is
therefore suggested that other studies should be done with
larger sample size, to find out the factors affecting BMI of
students.
Conflict of Interest
This study has no conflict of interest to declare by any
author.
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