ICPHSP3005

                                                                                                         

“Prevalence and correlates of being overweight or obese in university students (Review).”                                                              Click here to download Pdf file.

 

 

Authors:      

Yllka Bilushi MD, Dr , Ass. Prof; Fatjona Kamberi RN, MSN, PhD Candidate.

                

Affiliations:

Department of Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, University of Vlore”Ismail Qemali”,Vlora, Albania

 

 

Abstract:

 

Background In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 600 million were obese. Overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. Overweight and obesity, as well as their related non-communicable diseases, are largely preventable (1).

 

Objectives The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence overweight / obesity and its associated factors among university students.

 

Methods We conducted a search on five standard electronic databases (including PubMed, Medline, Elsevier Ltd, Springer Link, Hindawi Publishing Corporation) from 2000 to 2015. Only articles with data from cross-sectional studies with anthropometric measurements and self-administrated questionnaire were included. University students were classified by weight as normal, overweight or obese based on body mass index. Screening was performed by two reviewers. Sixty five studies were identified and 11 studies (75658 students), male and females, aged 20 +/- 2 years were included in a pooled mean meta-analysis as they meet the review criteria.

 

Results The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in university students was 34.7% and 19.96% respectively, which were higher in males than females. General overweight/obesity was correlates to poor eating habits: the low consumption of fruits and vegetables, having two meals per day , skipping breakfast , physically inactivity, frequent snacks and fried food consumption, the consumption of alcoholic and non-alcohol beverages etc.

 

Conclusion Our review suggests the need for appropriate prevention for the university students, which may be beneficial in reducing overweight and obesity rates, and to promote healthy eating habits among them.

 

Key words:

University student, overweight, obesity, eating habits.

 

 

References:

1. Obesity and overweight. Fact sheet N°311 Updated January 2015. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/

2. Peltzer K, Pengpid S. Underestimation of weight and its associated factors in overweight and obese university students from 21 low, middle and emerging economycountries. Obes Res Clin Pract. 2015 May-Jun;9(3):234-42. doi: 10.1016/j.orcp.2014.08.004. Epub 2014 Sep 11. PubMed PMID: 25219492.

3. Gazibara T, Kisic Tepavcevic DB, Popovic A, Pekmezovic T. Eating habits and body-weights of students of the university of belgrade, serbia: a cross-sectionalstudy. J Health Popul Nutr. 2013 Sep;31(3):330-3. PubMed PMID: 24288946; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3805882.

4. Cutillas AB, Herrero E, de San Eustaquio A, Zamora S, Pérez-Llamas F. [Prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity, energy intake and dietary caloric profile in university students from the region of Murcia (Spain)]. NutrHosp. 2013 May-Jun;28(3):683-9. doi: 10.3305/nh.2013.28.3.6443. Spanish. PubMed PMID: 23848089.

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6. Pengpid S, Peltzer K. Prevalence of overweight/obesity and central obesity and its associated factors among a sample of university students in India. Obes Res Clin Pract. 2014 Nov-Dec;8(6):e558-70. doi: 10.1016/j.orcp.2013.12.003. Epub 2014 Jan 9. PubMed PMID: 25434911.