The status of nutrition and physical activity in the students of medical sciences

Context: Diet and nutrition status has an important role in life and humans’ health. Regular physical activity create health promotion and prevent diseases.

Aim: Considering the importance of the health of students as young members of the society, the present study was designed to determine the status of nutrition and physical activity and its related factors among students at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

Setting and Design: This Cross- sectional study conducted on 435 students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the students were selected via multistage random sampling at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Data collection tools included a demographic and physical activity questionnaire and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).

Statistical Analysis Used: For data analysis, descriptive statistic and t-test were performed using SPSS version 21.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 21.11 ± 3.06 years. Consumption of dairy (P = 0.008) and fruits (P = 0.02) was significantly more in female students compared to male students. A total of 188 persons (43.2%) had physical activity every day. A total of 178 persons (40.9%) had physical activity always on a day, 11 persons (2.5%) had no physical activity, and others (56.6%) had physical activity sometimes. A total of 100 persons (23%) had weight increasing, 113 persons (26%) had weight decreasing, and others (51%) had neither increase nor decrease weight.

Conclusion: Based on the findings, the students had optimal nutrition condition. Thus, more attention is important to be paid by authorities to this specific topic, and some measures are essential in training students to maintain and continue optimal nutritional status. Students physical activity wasn't optimal level so it is needs to more educational measures.