Study on Consumption of Fast-food among Medical Students of UPUMS, Saifai, Etawah

Abstract

Background: Fast-food is food that is prepared and served quickly at outlets called fast-food outlets. It is high in calories and lacks micronutrients. It has been proved that its intake leads to many diseases and disorders like obesity which is likely to cause cardiovascular diseases later on. Fast-food culture is a vigorously uprising trend among the youngsters and medical students are no exception to it. Objectives: 1). To determine the burden of Fast-food consumption among medical students. 2). To assess the pattern and associated factors for Fast-food consumption among study subjects. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among all the undergraduate medical students studying at UPUMS, Saifai, Etawah. A pre-designed pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect information regarding their socio-demographic profile, pattern of fast-food consumption, and various factors which promoted the consumption of Fast-food among students. The data thus collected were analyzed using SPSS software Version 25.0. Results: Out of 800 undergraduate students pursuing MBBS at UPUMS, Saifai, only 620 students could be contacted for data collection. 26 forms were rejected as the data was incompletely filled. Hence, data of 594 students were entered into excel sheet and analyzed. Conclusions: Out of 594 students, 524 (88.2%) students were aware of the fact that consuming fast-food leads to many diseases and disabilities, while 20 (3.3%) students did not know its adverse effect. Study shows that consumption behaviour of Fast-food does not depend on age or gender of the people, rather it highly depends on its taste and pocket money of the consumer.