Abstract
To evaluate the relationship of body mass index of healthy teenagers with junk food, sleep pattern, exam performance and awareness about its ill effects. The cross-sectional study was conducted from March to June 2017 at University Medical and Dental College, University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan, and comprised subjects aged 13-19. Data was collected using face-to-face interviews, getting the examnation results from respective educational insititutions and calculating the body mass index, Data was analysed using SPSS 22. Of the 226 subjects, 96(42.5%) were boys with a mean age of 15.68 ±1.83 years, and 130(57.5%) were girls with a mean age of 17.00±1.74 years. Based on body mass index, 35(15.5%) subjects were underweight, 88(39%) were normal, 28(12.4%) overweight, 56(24.7%) pre-obese and 19(8.4%) were obese. The independent predictors of body mass index were higher consumption of soft drinks in males and higher consumption of soft drinks and salt in females (p<0.05). Teenagers were found to be well aware of the ill effects of junk food, but they were found to be happy with their dietary habits and unwilling to change it.
Highlights
Healthy diet is essential in combating non-communicable diseases, like diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity.[1]
The fact should not be ignored that junk food has a high caloric value which results in serious health problems when consumed excessively, leading to obesity, dental cavities and DM which are few of the diseases whose prevalence is increasing and it can affect the exam performance as well of the students.[4]
The current study was planned to see the relationship of body mass index (BMI) with junk food, sleep pattern, exam performance and awareness about its ill effects on health
Summary
Healthy diet is essential in combating non-communicable diseases, like diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity.[1] Junk food, known as fast food, has become increasingly popular in Pakistan. Many factors have led to an increase in junk food consumption; one of the important factors is its easy availability to students in school and college cafeterias. It has been seen that the junk food restaurants have grown rapidly across Pakistan which provide door-to-door delivery of junk food.[2] The increasing trend of consuming junk food has been witnessed all over the world due to easy availability and accessibility of a variety of delicious fast food items at very affordable prices.[3] the fact should not be ignored that junk food has a high caloric value which results in serious health problems when consumed excessively, leading to obesity, dental cavities and DM which are few of the diseases whose prevalence is increasing and it can affect the exam performance as well of the students.[4]. A healthy diet exalts exam performance unlike junk food which can lead to poor exam performance.[7,8] The current study was planned to see the relationship of body mass index (BMI) with junk food, sleep pattern, exam performance and awareness about its ill effects on health
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