Assessment of Nutritional Status of MBChB 4th Year Second Semester Students at Cavendish University Zambia, Longacres Campus, Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

It has been established that leading a sedentary lifestyle makes people prone to health problems such as hypertension, diabetes and poor nutrition. In addition, the poor sanitary conditions in schools and places of lodging have resulted in the contraction of urinary tract infections. The main aim of this study was to determine the general health status of the 4th year medical students at Cavendish University Zambia, Lusaka. This was done through the analysis of blood sugar levels, urine samples, blood pressure and body mass index. The study serves to answer what the nutritional status is based on body mass index, how blood pressure relates to hypertension, what the levels of diabetes are among students, what the general urinalysis findings are and the general factors associated with the health status of students. The study was conducted on 41 students, 26 being males and 15 females. In the blood glucose test, 14% presented with an abnormal level of glucose and 86% were normal. On average male students had a blood glucose level greater than 6.0mmol/L while female students had levels below 6.0mmol/L. in the BMI calculations, 61.3% of the students had a normal BMI, 7 being female and 20 being male a total of 8 females and 6 males had an abnormal BMI value. The criteria for normal urinalysis value were the absence or traces of the substance and abnormal values were indicated by the presence of small, moderate or large amounts of the substances. 100% of the students had normal glucose, blood and urobilinogen readings. 55.4% of the participants presented with normal blood pressure while 44.6% presented with abnormal blood pressure levels.