Title

Dietary factors and prevalence of overweight and obesity among medical students in Kancheepuram: A cross-sectional study

Authors

Surya Senthil¹, Bethamcherla Bala Chandrudu², R. Naveen Shyam Sundar³, Shoraf Pascal⁴, Mohammed Zakiullah Shareef⁵, Dinesh Raja^6,* & Balaji Arumugam⁷

Affiliation

¹Department of General Medicine, Saveetha Medical College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Thandalam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; ²Department of Medical Physiology, Visvabharathi Medical College and General Hospital, Penchikalapadu, Kurnool Andhra Pradesh, India; ³Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute SBV Deemed to be University, Chennai, India; ⁴Department of Community Medicine, Madha Medical College, Kovur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; ⁵Department of Internal Medicine, Satyadev Hospital, Anakapalli andhra Pradesh, India; ⁶Department of Emergency Medicine, CSR Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India; ⁷Department of Community Medicine, Arunai Medical College and Hospital, Nassipatti, Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Surya Senthil - E-mail: suryasenthil101@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9585848939
Bethamcherla Bala Chandrudu - E-mail: nagleharchandra@gmail.com; balachandrudu.b@gmail.com: Phone: +91 9493751346
R. Naveen Shyam Sundar - E-mail: drnaveenshyammbbs@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8778816923
Shoraf Pascal - E-mail: drshorafbaylon@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8056074632
Mohammed Zakiullah Shareef - E-mail: mohammedzaki0904@gmail.com; Phone: +966509650703
Dinesh Raja - E-mail: Dineshdocraja@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9944941888
Balaji Arumugam - E-mail: dr.a.balaji@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9840234857

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received October 1, 2025; Revised October 31, 2025; Accepted October 31, 2025, Published October 31, 2025

Abstract

The prevalence of overweight and obesity and examined associated dietary factors among 138 medical students in Kancheepuram is of interest. Anthropometric measurements were recorded and dietary patterns were analyzed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was 34.1% and 11.6%, respectively. High fast-food consumption, frequent late-night eating and low fruit intake were significantly associated with elevated BMI. Thus, we show the need for targeted nutritional interventions within medical student populations.

Keywords

Overweight, obesity, dietary habits, medical students, fast food, cross-sectional study, body mass index (BMI), lifestyle factors.

Citation

Senthil et al. Bioinformation 21(10): 3795-3799 (2025)

Edited by

A Prashanth

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.