The impact of eating and exercise frequency on weight gain - A cross- sectional study on medical undergraduate students

Introduction: Diverse factors influence an individual’s ability to successfully achieve and maintain energy balance consistent with a healthy body weight. Eating frequency is one among the varied feature that thought to have a direct impact on the body weight gain. Aim: The present cross-sectional study has been carried out with the intention of awareness of food habit that specifically emphasize the frequency of eating and its effect on weight gain of an individual. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 265 medical undergraduate students. Faculty validated close ended questionnaire was distributed to the students and the responses given by them were then analysed. Statistical evaluation of data with Spearman correlation coefficient (r) was done. Results: Among the total 265 participants, 177 (66.8%) were noted to have normal Body Mass Index (BMI 18.5-24.9). Out of them, 113 (64%) found to have eating frequency 3-4 meals/day, 44 (25%) with 1-2 meals/day, 18 (10%) with 5-6 meals/day and 2(1%) with more than 6 meals/day. Low positive correlation (r=0.09) between mean frequency of eating and the number of subjects with normal BMI was observed. Conclusion: An increase in the eating frequency can also be correlated with an increased prevalence of normal BMI individuals provided adequate physical exercise.