Background: Obesity the most prevalent form of malnutrition in both developed and developing countries and affecting children as well as adults is replacing the more traditional public health concerns. Obesity and overweight are the fifth leading cause of deaths worldwide. As obesity is the key risk factor in natural history of other chronic noncommunicable diseases, obesity prevention strategies offer a cost-effective approach in preventing other chronic noncommunicable diseases. Awareness level is the basic necessity to effect a change in behavior, more so in case of medical students as they can be the health educators of the community.
Objective: To measure the prevalence of obesity; to study the level of awareness with respect to the risk factors of obesity and health problems associated with it; and to study the awareness with respect to the assessment of obesity using body mass index (BMI).
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya, Karnataka, India, using pretested structured pilot tested questionnaire and physical examination for anthropometry to measure BMI was done. The data were analyzed using t-test, X2-test, and Kruskall–Wallis test.
Result: Among 172 students, 95 were men and 77 were women. It was found that 29.4% men and 16.7% women were overweight and obese, respectively. An overall prevalence of overweight was calculated to be 17.4% and that of obesity was 6.4%.
Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher compared to other studies and the awareness level was satisfactory.
Key words: Overweight, obesity, body mass index, awareness, risk factors
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