Syed Hassan Bin Usman Shah, Joveria Tariq Malik, Ammara Batool, Fatima Aziz, Haleema Sadia, Saroona Ishaque.
Trends of fast food consumption in medical students of government and private medical colleges of Rawalpindi / Islamabad - a comparative cross sectional study.
J Sharif Med Dent Coll Jan ;1(2):87-91.

Objective: Fast food consumption is increasing nowadays especially in the students, leading to many non-communicable diseases. This study is an attempt to determine the trends of fast food consumption among the medical students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Methodology: It was a comparative cross-sectional study, done in government and private medical colleges of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Pakistan within the duration of 6 months (March 2015 to August 2015). This study included 214 medical students from government and 222 medical students from private colleges. Probability simple random sampling technique was used to collect the data. Structured close ended questionnaire was filled by all these medical students. Data analysis was done between the government and the private medical students, using SPSS version 22. Chi-square was applied and p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Our study results showed that there is an increased fast food intake in the students especially after getting admission in the medical colleges. The participants had the knowledge that unhealthy food practices and habits could impose health risks later in life and could be passed onto next generation. Our striking finding was increased fast food consumption in hostel residing medical students, mainly because of poor food quality at hostel and free home delivery. Conclusion: Our study revealed that there is an increased fast food intake in the medical students. Keywords: Obesity. Medical students. Non-communicable diseases.

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