Abstract

A Cross-Sectional Study on Psychosocial Factors Influencing Eating Habits among Students in a Private Medical College, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Background: Poor eating habits which include meal skipping, frequent snacking, and fast food consumption along with substance abuse and physical inactivity have been rampant among young adults experiencing the transition into college life. Medical training is perhaps the toughest undergraduate program draining a student physically, mentally, and emotionally. As future physicians, ignoring a healthy lifestyle are more likely to fail to establish health-promoting opportunities for their patient’s. Objectives: To find out the eating habits among the medical students studying in a medical college and to determine the psycho-social factors associated with the eating habits among these medical students. Materials and Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 156 medical students (both boys and girls) of a private medical college, Bhubaneswar for seven days using a questionnaire, and the Compulsive Eating Scale (CES) was used to collect data. The data collected was analyzed statistically using the percentage and Chi-square test. Result: 51.28% admitted skipping breakfast. 32.05% consumed vegetables and legumes more than 3 times a week. Consumption of fast food and fried food was by 90.38% of the students. The majority of the females (54.3%) ate because of feeling bored which was statistically highly significant p=0.0079. Also, the majority of students (64.3%) were eating because of feeling lonely and bored (p=0.00014). Conclusion: Nutritional education early in the MBBS Curriculum will bring about an improvement in their overall eating habits.

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