Assessment of eating habits, lifestyle and physical activity among medical and dental students of Faisalabad Medical University

Keywords: Feeding Behavior, Life Style, Exercise, Students, Medical

Abstract

Objective: To assess the eating habits, lifestyle and physical activity and their impact on health of students of Faisalabad Medical University (FMU) Faisalabad Pakistan.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was prepared on 328 medical and dental students at Faisalabad Medical University from June, 2022 to October, 2022. Three Factor Eating Questionnaire Revised 21 (TFEQ-R21) was used to assess the eating habits among medical students and physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short version. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to assess lifestyle patterns.

Results: According to the study, 191(58.2%) students out of 328 practiced unrestricted eating. While 229(69.8%) students demonstrated cognitive restraint and 128(39%) students indulged in emotional eating. Less than half of the students, 52(15.9%) lead unhealthy lifestyles compared to 276(84.1%) who had healthy habits. Out of 328 students, 104 (31.7%) engaged in low, 137(41.8%) in moderate, and 87(26.5%) in high levels of physical activity. Whereas a higher proportion of female students engaged in low to moderate physical activity (61.5% and 52.6%, respectively), while a higher proportion of male students (63.2%) were involved in intense physical activity.

Conclusions: A large proportion of medical students exhibited poor dietary habits with low physical activity. Obesity and other metabolic diseases are more likely to strike medical students who engage in these unhealthy eating habits. As future health providers, health interventions must be implemented to avert future harm.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.3.7323

How to cite this: Zuhair HMU, Fatima K, Hussain U, Ayub A. Assessment of eating habits, lifestyle and physical activity among medical and dental students of Faisalabad Medical University. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(3):473-476. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.3.7323

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Author Biographies

Kiran Fatima, Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad

4th Year MBBS

Umer Hussain, Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad

4th Year MBBS

Dr Ayesha Ayub, HPERD Department Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad

Demonstrator

HPERD Department Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad

Published
2023-12-29
How to Cite
Hafiz Muhammad Usama Zuhair, Kiran Fatima, Umer Hussain, & Dr Ayesha Ayub. (2023). Assessment of eating habits, lifestyle and physical activity among medical and dental students of Faisalabad Medical University. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 40(3). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.3.7323