PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS OF AJMAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Yara Meni, Farah Laham, Haya Dandashi, Chaza Alleli, Nageeb Hassan and Moyad Shahwan*

ABSTRACT

Purpose: to identify the prevalence as well as determine gender differences in overweight and obesity among undergraduate medical students of Ajman University of Science & Technology. Methods: Undergraduate medical student (n = 675) of Ajman University, aged from 16 to 27 years, were involved in this study. Height and weight were measured using standard methods and the Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. Results: Our results showed that out of 675 respondents, 265 are male representing 39.25% while 410 are female representing 60.74% which depicts female gender being higher in number/population than the male. Crude prevalence were: 7.41% underweight, 58.37% normal weight, 26.22% overweight and 8% obese. Further analysis showed that males are in higher percentage of overweight and obesity than females. Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among medical students sampled is high. Among the overweight and obese there was a slight gender difference with regard to BMI.

Keywords: overweight, obesity, physical activity, diet, BMI.