Prevalencia de sobrepeso y factores asociados en estudiantes de la carrera de medicina. Universidad de Cuenca. 2023

Abstract

Background: Being overweight is an important public health problem worldwide. Its prevalence has increased in all ages, increasing morbidity and mortality, and is related to certain factors. According to OMS, the overall prevalence of being overweight is 62%. Objective: To determine the prevalence of being overweight and its associated factors in the medical students of the University of Cuenca in 2023. Methods and Materials: Cross-sectional analytical study; sample size: 279 students. To obtain the sociodemographic variables, a survey was conducted; physical activity and eating habits through the application of international questionnaires "Physical Activity (IPAQ)" and "Eating Habits for overweight patients" respectively. Weight and height were taken for BMI. The data was processed in the SPSS v15 program and presented in tables with their respective analysis, to determine the association of factors by means of the OR CI at 95%, and the P value, being statistically significant ≤ 0.05. Results: The prevalence of being overweight is 21.15%, for the female sex 24.32% and 14. 9% for the male sex, a significant association of being overweight was determined with female sex (p≤ 0.05, OR 1.84, age from 17 to 20 years (p ≤ 0.05 OR 0.47), type of regular diet (p≤ 0.05 OR 1.65) and tobacco consumption (p ≤ 0.05 OR 2.30). Conclusion: The prevalence of being overweight in medical students is associated with sex, regular diet and tobacco use, and age between 17 and 20 years as a protective factor