Food Habit and Nutritional Status of the Medical Students of Rajshahi and its Relationship with their Socioeconomic Background

Abstract

Background: Under or over consumption of calories tend to result in malnutrition and now it is a problem in both developed and developing countries. Health education, health awareness and knowledge about food habit could minimize this issue. Methods: This cross-sectional type of descriptive study was carried out in the Department of Community Medicine, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi over a period of 12 months from January to December 2019 on 300 medical students in Rajshahi city. Pre-designed, validated, semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather information from the medical students. Results: Seventy percent medical students took breakfast regularly and 57.3% consumed meal three times in a day. Around 89.0% and 78.0% students took fruits and plenty of vegetables each day, respectively. Only 13.3% consumed fast food regularly. Around 9.0% students were underweighted, 29.0% overweighted and 23.0% stunted. Conclusions: By improvement of socioeconomic status, mother’s education, health awareness and health education, stunting of the students might be reduced.