Study of lifestyle practices of students of rural medical college, Loni

Abstract

Background: Since doctors represent a significant human resource within a country, improving and preserving their health, is a form of preservation of a national resource. Doctors generally have difficulty maintaining a healthy lifestyle and good health practices. Aims & Objective: (1) To study dietary habits of the medical students. (2) To study the levels of physical activity. (3) To study the prevalence of addictive habits among the students. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted to assess the lifestyle practices of students of RMC, Loni. Self-structured pre-tested questionnaires were given to 266 students for study purpose. Results: Out of all students that participated in study, 68 (25.56%) were from first year, 93 (34.96%) from second year and 105 (39.47%) belonging to third year. Out of all participants, only 12.78% eat fruits daily. Daily junk food consumption was seen in 24.81% students and more than half (57.14%) tend to skip meals. Out of 92.10% students who perform physical activity in their leisure time, only 31.83% exercise adequately. Conclusion: It is important to emphasize on the value of healthy lifestyles in medical colleges if the students are to value the importance of a healthy lifestyle for themselves and for their subsequent patients.