Estimation of body fat mass percentage as measure of obesity among undergraduate medical students and its correlation with clinical markers of obesity

Introduction: This study was conducted to assess the burden of overweight and obesity among UG medical students by measurement of body fat mass percentage and to evaluate its validity as a clinical marker of obesity by its correlation with BMI. Methodology: The research was conducted as a cross-sectional, observational study using the principle of Bioelectric Impedance Analysis for the measurement of body fat. Results: A total of 420 students were enrolled out of which 233 were males (55.4%) and 187 females (44.5 %). The burden of overweight and obesity among the students was found to be 26% and 9.8 % respectively according to WHO global BMI criteria. This abnormality was pervasive across all four years of UG MBBS students. The startling finding is that students who were labeled as ‘Normal’ using the BMI criterion were found to be obese by BF% assessment (43%) and even ‘Underweight’ students were found to have more than normal levels of BF% (15.2%). Measurement of waist circumference (WC) showed that 146 (34.8%) of the students had WC higher than normal. Likewise, 145 (34.5%) of the students had Waist-Hip Ratio higher than normal. Abnormalities of all the above parameters put the students at risk of NCDs(Non-Communicable diseases). Conclusion: The study shows a high burden of overweight and obesity in medical students. Using body fat percentage as a clinical marker of adiposity is more desirable than using BMI only to screen for clinical obesity