Study on consumption of fast food and its association with BMI among medical students in a tertiary care center of eastern India

Abstract

Background: Food that is instantly cooked and served at establishments is known as fast food. It consists of foods like pizza, ice cream, chicken nuggets, French fries, fried chicken, sandwiches, and chips. Medical students are no exception to the fact that today’s youth adhere intensely and fashionably to the fast-food culture. As medico has to work in stressful routine that seriously affects the eating habits and different food pattern. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence regarding consumption of fast food among medical students, its pattern, and to explore various factors influencing the students for it. Objectives: To study the consumption of fast food and its association with BMI among medical students in a tertiary care center of eastern India. Methodology: It is a cross-sectional study conducted in IMS & SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during the month of October 2021 to January 2022. All the undergraduate MBBS students were taken as study population. A structured questionnaire was developed as study tool to capture all data, which were analyzed through SPSS version 26. Results: A total of 177 students participated in the study, among which 56% were male and rest 44% were female students. The mean age was found as 19.67 ± 3.33 years. Though majority students (93.8%) were being aware of the fact that consuming fast food leads to many diseases and disability, most of the students continue to eat fast food. It may be due to reasons of tasteless food at hostel canteen (34.69%), followed by new taste of fast food with company (30.25%) and to avoid wastage of time (4.07%). Conclusion: The superintendent of the hostel should be mindful of ensuring that all students receive food that is of a high standard. Because common people follow the example set by future doctors, medical professionals must be aware of this for the sake of their own well-being. In restaurants, wholesome snacks can take the place of deep-fried dishes. Government and media should support these channels. By enacting strict restrictions to control the marketing of fast meals in the Indian market, the consumption of fast food by youngsters can be decreased. Levying a high fee on manufactured and imported prepared foods. Medical students’ choices of low-fat menu items and the amount of food they order may be limited by nutritional labelling of food.