The dietary habits and physical activities of undergraduate medical students in Karachi

Introduction: Having healthy dietary habits, undertaking sufficient physical activity, and tackling overweight and obesity are fundamental aspects of the prophylactic ways of ensuring health. Dietary pattern such as eating a range of food that is high in fruits. vegetables and fiber and low in saturated fat, sugar and salt can help in maintaining a healthy weight. Particularly, dietary pattern including regular breakfast consumption has been associated with lower body weight. Moreover, the WHO identified physical inactivity as the fourth leading risk factor responsible for 6% of deaths globally. Good workout and dietary habits are time consuming to develop and difficult to cultivate later on in life yet they are paramount for a soundly functioning brain and body;therefore, directly correlated to well-being and hence efficiency of medical students not only in their academic but also in their practicing years. In medical colleges. high vulnerability to anxiety and stress accentuates even more on the adaptation of a good lifestyle. Hence, there is a need to assess the knowledge, attitude and pattern of physical activity and dietary habits of undergraduate medical students of Karachi and to determine the corresponding motivating and hindering factors. Objective: To determine the dietary habits and physical activities in association with underlying motivating and hindering factors in undergraduate medical students at Sindh Medical College, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi. Methodology: A cross sectional study from October 2020 to January 2021 was conducted in the Sindh Medical College, Jinnah Sindh Medical University. The study was conducted on 316 undergraduate medical students studying in the university. The sampling technique was non probability purposive sampling. The data was collected by distributing a structured questionnaire. Due to the Covid pandemic the researchers sent the questionnaire to the participants in the form of online Google forms as physical data collection was not possible since the students were at home taking online classes. Written Informed Consent was taken from the participants and all ethical considerations and research protocols were observed. Data was collected in the form of pre-tested self-administered questionnaires. In order to standardize the questionnaires, a pilot study was conducted among research participants for the purpose of examining content validity. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS software version 20.0 and chi square test was used to determine factors associated with demographic profile with physical activity and dietary pattern. The statistical analysis was conducted with 95% confidence interval and p-value of <0.05 was taken as threshold of statistical significance. Results: Of the 316 participants the age ranges of participants were;9.4%(n=33) were 16 to 18 years old, 54.4%(n=191) were 19 to 21 years old and 26.2% (n=92) were aged 22 to 24 years. Among the participants 15.4%(n=54) were males and 74.6%(n=262) were females. According to the year of study wise distribution, 20.2%(n=71) were from first year, 13.1%(n=46) were from second year, 12.8%(n=45) were from third year, 39.9%(n=140) were from fourth year and 4%(n=14) were from final year. About 82.3%(n=289) participants were living at home and 7.7%(n=27) were living in hostels. When asked what type of physical activity did they perform. 48.4%(n=140) said walking, 3.1%(n=11) were jogging, 6.8%(n=24) replied outdoor games, 14.2(n=50) responded as other physical activities and 17.4%(n=61) were doing no physical activity. When asked what was the duration of their physical activity, 15.7%(n=55) were doing 0 minutes/day, 43.6%(n=153) were doing less than 30 minutes/ day, 23.4%(n=82) were doing from 31 to 60 minutes/day and 7.4%(n=26) were doing more than 60 minutes/day. When asked how many days in a week did they do physical activity, 15.4%(n=54) said 0 days, 7.7%(n=27) said 1 day/ee,39.6%(n=139) said 2 to 4 days, 13.1%(n=46) said 5 to 6 days and 14.2%(n=50) said every day. When asked what in their opinion should be the reason for exercising, 64.7(n=227) said fitness, 12%(n=42) said stamina, 9.1%(n=32) said to lose weight and 4.3% (n=15) said that they had no idea. When asked how much time did they think they spent sitting watching TV, using cell phone or computers in one day, 0.6%(n=2) said 0 minutes/day, 2.8%(n=10) said less than 30 minutes/day, 13.1%(n=46) said 30 to 60 minutes/day, 22.5%(n=79) said 61 to 120 minutes/day, 20.5%(n=72) said 121 to 180 minutes/ day and 30.5%(n=107) said more than 180 minutes/day. When asked whether they thought they were overweight or obese.19.1%(n=67) said yes, 59.3%(n=208) said no and 11.7%(n=41) said maybe. When asked how frequent was daily intake of meal throughout a day, 2.8%(n=10) said Once a day, 21.9%(n=77) said twice a day, 54.7%(n=192) said thrice a day and 10.5%(n=37) said more than three meals a day. When asked how often did they consume caffeine (tea, coffee) a day, 21.7%(n=76) said none, 22.5%(n=79) said once a day, 35.3%(n=124) said twice a day,7.7%(n=27) said three times a day and 2.8%(n=10) said more than three times a day. When the participants were asked which diet were they currently on, 66.1%(n=232) said a balanced diet, 18.2%(n=64) said a heavy diet (fast foods and dairy products) and 5.7%(n=20) said a light diet (mostly salads and fresh fruits). When asked whether they have their breakfast. 73.8%(n=259) said yes and 16.2%(n=57) said no. Out of those having breakfast, 55%(n=193) had it everyday and 31.1%(n=109) had it sometimes. When asked how many hours did they take sleep daily, 13.7%(n=48) said 4 to 6 hours, 48.4%(n=170) said 6 to 8 hours, 24.5%(n=86) said 8 to 10 hours and 3.4%(n=12) said more than 10 hours. When asked whether they take dietary fibers in the form of vegetables. fruits, psyllium husk, etc, 70.7%( n=248) said yes and 19.4%(n=68) said no. Conclusion: Medical students are future doctors and the responsibility of maintaining the health of general population at large rests on their shoulders. They should be the role models for the community in maintaining a healthy life style. The findings of this study have shown that a lot needs to be done on the part of our future doctors in revisiting their lifestyle, especially with regard to their dietary patterns and physical activity. An adequate proportion of our undergraduate medical students are trying their best to take a balanced diet and engage in physical activity for maintaining good health. These students should act as enablers to help out their fellow medical students who are not so careful about their lifestyle.