DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2021.v09i06.019

Pages: 919-923

The Body Mass Index (BMI) and body weight do not give enough information about a person’s body composition. Measuring the fat free mass gives us the extra information we need. The body composition can be measured in several ways. Unfortunately none of these techniques is a gold standard. That is why different techniques are combined in a full body composition assessment. This study aims to assess the prevalence of overweight, obesity and the fat distribution in medical students. Two hundred (200) preclinical, 100 male and 100 female age matched students (mean 18.93 ± 0.75 years) were included in the study. BMI, waist hip ratio, body fat, skeletal muscle mass and their bodily distribution were recorded by using an electronic body composition analyzer. The subjects were divided into undernourished (UN=BMI<18.5 kg/m2), normal (N=BMI>18.5–22.9 kg/m2), overweight (OW=BMI>23-27.99 kg/m2) and obese (OB=BMI >28 Kgm2) groups based on BMI cut off values for Asians. The data analyzed showed that 32% of the Male (mean BMI = 25.41 ±1.46 kg/m2) 33% of the Female (mean BMI =25.03 ± 1.44 kg/m2) were over weight and 16% of Males (mean BMI =31.08 ±1.91) 8% Females(mean BMI= 30.73 ± 1.66) were obese. The average total body fat in males was 20.75 ± 6.69% and 28.55 ± 5.86% in females. The total body fat was high in obese males and females 26.67±4.37, 36.73 ±0.46% respectively as compared to other groups. The visceral fat was high in obese males (14.40 ± 2, 27%) and whereas obese females had normal levels at (9.5 ± 1.0%). The subcutaneous fat was more in the lower limbs than in the trunk area in both males and females. The skeletal muscle mass was about 34.5 ± 3.44% in males and 26.98 ± 2.55% in females which was slightly less than the recommended values. The leg area had more muscle mass than other areas. The findings clearly indicate increase in total body fat increases with BMI and WHR.