Examination of Body Mass Index, Health status and associated risk factors among Life Science Students: Cross-Sectional Study.

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescents in India, comprising 21.4% of the population, frequently suffer from poor health due to unhealthy eating habits, with BMI being a crucial diagnostic tool. This article investigates the impact of determining body mass index, blood group, and sugar levels on life science students to raise awareness about healthy eating, behaviour, and weight maintenance.

Objectives: Body mass index is a valuable tool for diagnosing disorders caused by nutritional imbalance, undernutrition or over nutrition. Being underweight or overweight or obese is a desirable health condition and can have negative health consequences.

Aim: The present study was focused to determine body mass index, blood grouping, and sugar level among life science students and to assess the factors associated with it.

Methods: In this article the descriptive study was carried out among Life Science students of SRM Arts and Science College, from June 2022 to April 2023. Body mass index was calculated for 100 students including male and female. Blood samples were collected from the students and glucose levels were assessed before and after meals. 

Results: In this article a total of 50 study population was considered for statistical analysis and the majority were between 17 and 23 years of age. The data classifies individuals into two weight status categories, healthy and overweight, based on their BMI values. The mean BMI values show some variation across these age groups. Mean ± S.D values for 17, 18 and 19 Year-olds were 24.198 ± 0.724, 23.310 ± 1.027 and 22.199 ± 0.418 respectively. They were healthy. Mean ± S.D values for 20, 21, 22 and 23 year-olds were 25.293 ± 0.454, 25.079 ± 0.621, 25.349 ± 0.665 and 27.173 ± 0.097 respectively. They were overweight. 

Conclusions: The rise in overweight people as they age is often due to irregular lifestyles, study stress, hormonal changes, and teenage psychology, which can lead to frequent eating habits. As a result, glucose concentration rises significantly, which is associated with higher BMI. Further analysis is required to find the exact cause of being overweight..