SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE

I, hereby certify that Mr. Waseem Ullah Roll No. 15-226, has successfully completed
research project, entitled “Socio demographic determinants and health practices in
students of Ayub medical college”.

He has been working under my supervision. The enclosed report is prepared according to
the departmental guidelines. I have read the thesis and have found it satisfactory as per
requirement of the department.

Signature: ________________ __________________

Dr. Zainab Nazneen Dr. Hamid Awan

Department Stamp:

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 Acknowledgement:

I am so grateful to all my respected teachers for their valuable lectures regarding research
methodology. I wish to acknowledge with thanks the assistance and guidance of the
community medicine department for their devoted and untiring efforts which made me able
to complete my research project.

I wish special thanks to Dr. Zainab Nazneen, Dr. Hamid awan, Dr. Umar farooq, Dr.
Salim Wazir, Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, Dr. Zeeshan, Dr. Urooj, Dr. Awais ur Rahman, Dr. Adnan
Rashid .

I also acknowledge the valuable contribution of our supervisor Dr. Zainab Nazneen and

co-supervisor Dr. Hamid awan for their encouragement and guidance throughout the research

work. Last but not the least I want to thank all the participants and the batch-mates for their

valuable time and help in this study.

Waseem Ullah

4th MBBS

Roll No: 15-226

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 Table of contents:

S. No Titles Page Number

1. Supervisor’s certificate 1
2. Acknowledgement 2
3. Table of contents 3
4. Abstract 4-5
5. Introduction 6-7
6. Literature Review 7-10
7. Objectives 11
8. Materials and Methods 11-12
9. Results 13-22
10. Discussion 22-23
11. Conclusion 23
12. Recommendations 24
13. References 24-28
14. Questionnaire

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 Abstract:

Background:

Socio demographic and socio statistics are same words. It represents characteristics such
as age, gender, ethnicity, educational level income, location and size of family. Health
Practices relates person lifestyle and behavior by which individuals can prevent diseases and
promote self-care, cope with challenges, and develop self-reliance, solve problems and make
choices that not only enhance health, but also influence the social, economic, and
environmental factors of the decisions people make about their health. Different colleges and
universities throughout world had conducted this research but they are mostly limited nut my
study will be broad and to the point i.e. frequency of students and their healthy practices with
relation to their socio demographic determinants

Objectives:

1: To determine the socio-demographic characteristics of medical and dental students of

Ayub Medical College.

2: To determine the health practices of medical and dental students of Ayub Medical College.

Materials and Methods:

This analytical cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among

undergraduate medical students of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad. The sample size
comprised of 250 students from 1st year to Final year MBBS and BDS students. 40 students
were from each of the class among which 20 were males and 20 females. Data were collected
through a prepared questionnaire. All the collected data were analyzed by using SPSS version
16.0. Descriptive data analysis was conducted and reported as frequencies and percentages.

Results:

In this study, the mean values of the different variables are; age 21.53, family size 7.42,
height 1.64 meters, weight of respondents 65 kg, time of exercise was 24 minutes, number of
cigarettes per day 1.17 cigarettes per day, bed time was 7.87 hours sleep and the mean BMI
of students was 24.5.

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Conclusion:

In our study we concluded that, the dietary habits and life style of a medical student is
healthy in some aspects like junk food and soft drink consumption are less and majority of
students consume fresh fruits among medical students. Also physical inactivity is noticed in
majority of students. Physical activity is higher among single students as compared to
married students. Physical activity is higher in boarder students and less in day scholars.
Majority of students are non smokers from upper socioeconomic status. Majority of students
were from middle class students. Also majority of students were non smokers whom mothers
educational level are post graduate and those students whose mothers are uneducated are
smokers in majority. Also majority of hostel students are smokers.

Key Words: Socio demographic determinants, Health practices, Medical students.

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Sociodemographic determinants and health practice of students in Ayub
medical college, Abbottabad.

Introduction:

Health practices is related deeply to lifestyle, i.e., the individual’s way of living, personal
hygiene, habits and behavior. The health practices are considered as “Teach Health, Not
Disease”. It is a multidimensional idea which is connected profoundly to personal
satisfaction, i.e., physical, mental, passionate, and social working.1. Among adolescents,
unhealthy behaviour in the college environment has been associated with low academic
achievement, obesity, poor self-reported health status, more numerous health complaints,
regular smoking, longer time spent watching TV, unhealthy eating habits, and poor emotional
well-being, life-skills, health behaviours and life satisfaction.2 Health practices have been
shown to have an impact on subjective views of health, including self-rated health and global
quality of life.3 It could be used as an indicator of health status of a population and serve as a
beneficial tool, which reflects the performance of health systems.4 In recent years, differences
in health outcomes by socio-economic status have been recognized as a persisting trend in
public health. Small number of Chinese students(7%) apply the idea of healthy way of life,
while majority(51%) wants to find out about sedentary lifestyle.5 A comparable review of
Swedish college demonstrated that female has sound way of life however increasingly
presented to pressure while male students are fat, having less physical upgrading activities.6
Depression and undesirable practices like sleeplessness, physical inactivity are proportional
to one another. Depression is the aftereffect of physical inactivity and it is increase with
smoking.7 Many studies report a positive association between smoking and mental illness,
with smoking rates increasing with the severity of the depression.8 Reaching optimal
nutrition, physical activity, and sleep levels have demonstrated importance for academic
achievement while excess recreational screen time has been shown to negatively influence
academic achievement. In addition, overweight and obesity have been associated with poorer
academic achievement.9

The WHO international consultation and technical meeting on health-promoting universities

held in July 1997. An unpublished background working document entitled Strategic
development of health promoting universities was prepared for the meeting as well as a report
after the meeting. Universities can therefore potentially contribute to health gain in three
distinct areas e.g. creating healthy working, learning and living environments for students and

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staff. A Strategic Approach for Improving Health and Education in Pakistan is started by
ministry of education in collaboration with UNESCO in Feb 2010. Bringing awareness in
school children will have profound effect on them at university level and will help in creating
future builders.

A large amount of information stated that socio-demographic factors, such as age, gender,
level of literacy, education, marital status, and the individual’s income, to be hugely related
with health practices.10 Eating smarter, moving outside, sleeping soundly and thinking clearly
-- that, when improved upon, increase your capacity to perform at your best.

My study rational mostly will be concerned with the healthy lifestyle practices i.e. physical
activity, nutritional status, smoking status of students in Ayub medical college and its
relativity with their gender, socio economic status, maternal education and their residence.

Literature review:

The socio demographic determinants and health practices are broad terms that are related
with each other in many ways i.e. age, gender, financial status, social status related health
practices. Gender, age and sociocultural factors are likely to influence health related
behavior. Person’s age is inversely related with physical activity. Women are less likely
health conscious. As they aged, will tend to gain more weight and engage in less healthy
activities and indirectly result into poor health.11 Similarly a large body of research has
mentioned the correlation of personal health practices and mortality among young and middle
age adults. Reviews from the human population laboratory examine in Alameda County,
California, as an instance, have shown that five fitness practices (never smoking, ordinary
bodily activity, average weight status, and sleeping seven to eight hours a night time) have
been related to decreasing mortality costs from all causes even in youn age.12 Multivariate
analyses of these statistics monitor that folks that in no way smoked, had been bodily lively,
reported low alcohol intake, and slept seven or eight hours according to nighttime retained
appreciably normal span of life.13 In the mid-age group the level of ladies who use tobacco is
moving toward that of men, to some extent since men have stopped at higher rates than
ladies. Smoking among ladies in this age assemble is related with lower pay and instruction,
heavier drinking and dormancy.14 There is some consensus that addressing deep-rooted
influences on health behaviors in “at-risk” groups, including cultural influences, is important

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lifestyle is a complex interaction of a mess of things that give human beings an ethnic
belonging and also affects their lifestyle and predisposition to a chronic ailment.

Physical activities:

Evidence from neuroscience and related disciplines suggests that being physical active and
sound could contribute to the formation of human capital. Physical activity alters functional
and structural properties of certain brain structures, which leads to learning and skills
acquisition. Similar studies have shown both immediate and persistent effects of exercising
on cognitive performance. Physical activity persistently increases executive functions,
attention, memory, and speed of processing weeks and months after interventions.
Furthermore, physical activity has immediate effects and, for example, enhances memory
storage and retrieval during and shortly after exercising. This is important about for students,
as attending lectures and studying involve hardly any physical activities. Physical inactivity
as an obstacle to human capital accumulation has been largely ignored in economic research,
especially compared to the vast literature on the effects of education and other environmental
factors on human capital formation. Physical activity promotion is high on the health policy
agenda. Low levels of physical activity in young people have been linked to increased rates
of obesity, cardiovascular disease and poor mental health.16 Different studies recommend
that all young people should participate in physical activity, of at least moderate intensity, for
1 hour day−1. A study also shows that male spent most of the week sedentary but they are
still involve in exercise more as compared to female.18 Recent figures also reveal alarming
levels of obesity and overweight in young people. A report recognized that changing health
behavior is complex as it requires about 60 days for each to bring about change in his nature.
It noted ‘it is critical that obesity is tackled first and foremost at a societal rather than an
individual level’. Effective promotion of physical activity remains a key strategy in achieving
a mass shift in activity levels.

Nutritional status:

Food preferences differs regarding to family and individual, are determinants in food
purchases, but many other factors, including age, gender, educational level and economic
status, also influence grocery-buying habits.19,20 Older adults and women are more likely to
have higher quality diets than younger adults and men.21 Older adults are more likely to
report healthy behaviors, including adherence to a diet of foods associated with lower CVD
risk, than younger adults.22 In spite of this, overweight and obesity in older adults is steadily

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rising.23 Age and gender should be considered when developing strategies to improve dietary
habits. Young adults tend to be more technologically proficient and are more likely to
respond to healthy eating strategies that use social media (e.g. Twitter and Facebook) and
electronic devices (e.g. PDAs, mobile phones and cameras) rather than print media. 24 Young
adults are also more like to alter poor dietary habits after receiving education about the health
effects of foods known to contribute to chronic disease and social normative messages about
healthy eating.25 As compared to adults child are much less concern about type of food and
are much obese in USA. Economic status is another factor that risk the life of children
sometimes result into malnourished or premature death. SAFANSI (South Asia Food and
Nutrition Security Initiative) is a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank in
the year 2010-2015 to raise funding and finance activities in south Asian countries.
According to recent report of UNICEF stated that South Asia is home to more than half the
world’s wasted children, a key driver of the high stunting prevalence, newborn deaths now
account for 44 percent of under-5 deaths globally and almost 60 percent of the deaths in
South Asia.

Gender also affect the food consumption among the medical students. Female had a better
dietary profile and higher eating-related SDI than men.

Sleeping habits:

Sleep loss continues to be an increasing problem in modern society, and so do the health risks
associated with it. While most discussions on sleep deficiency point to chronic health
problems - heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity - as among the most serious
consequences, the cost of poor sleep is much more straightforward than many people think: It
accelerates ageing. Sleep is a time when the body rests and regenerates itself and, at this
point, cell repair also takes place. When we do not get enough restful sleep, our bodies'
metabolic processes go in disarray, even causing cell damage. World Sleep Day was marked
on March 15 to bring an awareness and education on the importance of quality sleep in
healthy ageing. Sleep quality is decreased with decreased in NREM N3 stage and REM. Due
to the significant impact of the problems related to quality of sleep, and the influence of
factors such as age and sex, it is particularly important to analyze what the actual prevalence
of these problems in the population is, especially in the age groups where this impact is
greater. Decreased sleep has been detected in both gender as they aged. As compared to aged
children and adults fall asleep more eagerly and easily after their daily activities and work.

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Similarly, after 40 years old people tend to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. A mess of
older adults in low-income settings are currently experiencing sleep problems, which
emphasizes the global dimension of this emerging public health issue.27 However, evidence
on the burden of sleep problems in low-income settings is lacking.27 But in some recent
survey it was found out that more than 20% of US and Canadian are suffering from abnormal
sleep pattern.28 It’s the most common issue in western countries as compared to Middle East
and South Asia. The National Sleep Foundation Scientific Advisory Council commends 9–11
hours for school age children and 8–10 hours for teenagers.29 Homework, hanging out with
friends, watching late night shows, seasons, video games and social apps are the most
common reason of delayed sleep. Social and customs, cultural and climatic factors, appear to
affect sleep duration in children. It has been indicated that 27% of university students are not
getting enough sleep.30 According to a Gilani Research Foundation survey carried out by
Gallup Pakistan, almost two third of all Pakistanis (64%) claim to sleep well. The remaining
30% say they don’t always have a sound sleep and 5% say they never sleep well.

Smoking:

Smoking is a major public health problem throughout the world. Most smokers start smoking
before high-school graduation or immediately after, students should be considered a primary
target for tobacco prevention programs. It is more common in male students. A study shows
that smoking prevalence in are less common as compared to other universities. It also shows
the positive correlation of father smoking with sons.

The above mention health practices along with their prevalence and socio demographic
variables are the major ones and has been important as compared to other minor healthy
habits which have been excluded for making the research simple and sound.

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Objectives:

1: To determine the socio-demographic characteristics of medical and dental students of

Ayub Medical College.

2: To determine the health practices of medical and dental students of Ayub Medical College.

Study Methodology:

Study design:

Cross sectional study

Setting:

Ayub Medical College Abbotabad

Duration:

8 months (From November 2018 to June 2019)

Study population:

All students of AMC from first year to final year MBBS and BDS

Sample Size:

250 students

Sample Technique:

Cross sectional questionnaire based study was conducted.

Inclusion Criteria:

All students of Ayub medical college from first year to final year MBBS and BDS,
including both male and female student, whether boarder or day scholars.

Exclusion Criteria:

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 Those students who were migrated from Ayub medical college were not included in our
study.

Ethical Consideration:

An informed verbal consent was obtained from all students who participated in the study.
Procedure and purpose of the study was explained before asking questions. Data was only
accessible to those who conducted the study.

Data Collection:

Tool used for data collection was a structured questionnaire which was developed by
including variables of interest. Each student of research group prepared his own
questionnaire. Questionnaire was finalized by supervisor after discussion. All students of
research batch collected data from April15 to May 15.

Data analysis:

The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0. Frequency and percentage tables and
figures were used to describe the results. Chi square and p value were also used for testing the
statistical significance. The statistical significance was set at < 0.05.

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Results:

Information for this cross-sectional study was extracted from a sample of total 250 students
of Ayub medical college. The students were selected by stratified random technique. The
results are depicted in table no 1.

Table No. 1: Mean of variables

Variables
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

age in years 250 19 29 21.53 1.489

size of family 250 3 22 7.42 3.155

height in meters 249 1.20 1.89 1.6424 .14944

weight in kgs 250 42.00 90.00 64.9000 10.58462

time for exercise in mins 250 .00 120.00 24.4000 31.07899

no.of cigartess per day 250 .00 15.00 1.1760 2.87787

average bed time in hours 250 4.00 16.00 7.8760 2.02113

BMI 250 14.68 41.66 24.5256 5.56156

Valid N (listwise) 249

Table No. 1 shows different variables with range, standard deviation and mean of medical
students. Responders with age in years ranging from 19 to 29 with mean 21.53(±1.489).
Responders with size of family ranging from 3 to 22 with mean 7.42(±3.155). the height in
meters of responders ranging from 1.20 to 1.89 with mean 1.6424(±.149). The weight in kg
of responders ranging from 42 kg to 90 kg with mean 64.90(±10.58). The timing of exercise
ranging from 0 to 120 mins with mean 24.400(31.07). The no of cigarettes per day were 0 to
15 with mean1.176(±2.87). The average bedtime in hours is 4 to 16 with mean
7.8760(±2.02). The BMI of responders was 14.68 to 41.66 with mean 24.52(±5.56).

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 Fig. No. 1: Residence of students
Fig 1 Bar chart shows the residency of total 250 medical student out of which 188(75%) are
hostellers while the remaining 62(25%) are day scholar.

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 Fig No. 2 routine excerices
Fig 2 Bar chart illustrates that out of total 250 medical students 127(50.8%) were engaged in
routine exercise while 123(49.2%) were not. This shows interest of responders in routine
exercise which h is quite low.

Table No. 2: Gender of respondent and routine of exercise:

routine of exercise

yes no Total

gender of respondent male 95 74 169

female 32 49 81

Total 127 123 250

Chi square value: 6.11 P value: 0.013

The table corresponds the realtion of gender with routine exercise of responders. 95(56%)
out of 169 were male while 32(39%) out of 81 were female who found to be invovle in

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routine exercise. The p value is <0.05 so it is segnificant(x2 is 6.11). This shows interest of
male students in routine exercise as compared to female.

Table No. 3: Socioeconomic status and routine of exercise:

routine of exercise

yes no Total

socioeconomic status lower 27 26 53

middle 61 64 125

upper 39 33 72

Total 127 123 250

Chi square value: 0.527 P value: 0.768

The table illustrates the asssociation of socio economic status of responders with routine of
exercise. 27(50%) out of 53(48%) lower class, 61(54%) out of 125 middle class, 39 out of 72
upper class were found to be engaged in routine exercise. The p value is >0.05 so it is not
segnificant(x2 is 0.527). So the hypothesis about socio economic status that effect routine
exercise is not accepted.

Table No. 4: Maternal education and routine of exercise:

routine of exercise

yes no Total

maternal education Uneducated 56 53 109

Primary 6 0 6

Middle 0 5 5

Matric 8 13 21

Intermediate 8 13 21

Graduate 16 18 34

Postgraduate 33 21 54

Total 127 123 250

Chi square value: 16.18 P value: 0.013

Table mention the association of maternal education with routine of exercise. 56(51%)
responders with uneducated mothers out of 109, 6(100%) out of 6 with primary educated
mothers,0(0%) out of 5 with middle educated mothers, 8(38%) out of 21 with middle
educated, intermediate mothers, 16(47%) out of 32 with graduated mothers, 33(61%) out of

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54 with post graduate mothers were found to be involve in exercise. The p value is <0.05(x 2
16.18) so it is segnifiacnt. Therefore the hypothesis about influence of maternal education on
routine exercise is accepted.

Fig No. 3: Food consumption

Fig 3 bar chart represent the frequency of medical student on the basis of the concept of
healthy diet. Out of 250 medical students 194(77%) were healthy food consumer while
56(33%) were junk food consumer.

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Table No. 5: socioeconomic status and food consumed:

food consumed

healthy junk Total

socioeconomic status lower 46 7 53

middle 97 28 125

upper 51 21 72

Total 194 56 250

Chi square value: 4.473 p value: 0.107

The table shows the association of socioeconomic status of responder with food consumption.
The lower class 46(77%) out of 53, middle class 97(86%) out of 125, 51(70%) out of 72
upper class were healthy food consumer. The p value is >0.05(x2 4.473) so it is not
significant. This shows that responders are healthy diet consumer irrespective of their
socioeconomic status.
Table No. 6: Gender of respondent and food consumed:

food consumed

healthy junk Total

gender of respondent male 135 34 169

female 59 22 81

Total 194 56 250

Chi square value: 1.562 P value: 0.211

Table illustrates the consumption of healthy and junk foods among male and female students.
The healthy food consumers among male students are 135(79%) out of 169 while in case of
female students it is 59 out of 81(72%) out of 81. The p value is >0.05(x2 1.562). So the
concept that preference of healthy foods regarding gender variation is not accepted

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 Fig No. 4 Smoking Status
The above fig 4 bar chart mentions the smoking status of medical students. From total out
250, 46(18%) were smokers and 204(82%) were non-smokers.

Table No. 7: Gender of respondent * smoking status:

smoking status

yes no Total

gender of respondent male 44 125 169

female 2 79 81

Total 46 204 250

Chi square value: 20.25 p value: 0.000

Table shows the association of gender and smoking status. In male students 44(26%) were
smokers out 169 while in female students 2(2%) out of 81 were smokers so the hypothesis
about male smokers is accepted. The p value is <0.05(x2 20.25) so it is significant.

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Table No. 8: Residence of student and smoking status:

smoking status

Yes no Total

residence of student boarder 37 151 188

day scholar 9 53 62

Total 46 204 250

Chi square value: 0.828 p value: 0.363

From table no 6, out of 188 boarders 37(20%) were smokers and 151(80%) were not smokers
while in case of day scholars 9(14%) were smokers and 53(86%) were not smokers out of
62.So the hypothesis which states that boarder smokes more as compared to day scholars is
not accepted. But of total 250 only 46(18%) were found to be smokers so it is not significant
(failed to reject the null hypothesis).

Table No. 9: Maternal education and smoking status:

smoking status

yes no Total

maternal education uneducated 30 79 109

primary 0 6 6

middle 2 3 5

matric 3 18 21

intermediate 2 19 21

graduate 7 27 34

postgraduate 2 52 54

Total 46 204 250

Chi square value: 18.16 P value: 0.006

Table shows the relation between maternal education and smoking status of responders.
30(27%) out of 109 with uneducated mothers, 0(0%) out of 6 with primary educated mother,
2(40%) out of 5 with middle educated mothers, 3(14%) out of 21 with matric educated
mothers, 2(9.5%) out of 21 with intermediate educated mothers, 7(20%) out of 34 with
graduated mothers, 2(3%) out of 54 with post graduated mothers were found to be smokers.
The p value is >0.05 so it is not much significant (x2 18.16).

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Table No. 10: Association between
socioeconomic status and smoking status:

smoking status

yes No Total

socioeconomic status lower 12 41 53

middle 21 104 125

upper 13 59 72

Total 46 204 250

Chi square value: 0.854 p value: 0.653

The table mentions the association of socioeconomic status with smoking status of
responders. 12(22%) out of 53 lower class, 21(16%) out of 125 middle class, 13(22%) out of
72 upper class were found to be smokers. The p value is >0.05(x2 0.854) so it is not
significant. Therefore, the socioeconomic status of responder rarely affect the smoking status
of responder.

Table No. 11: Gender of respondent and soft drinks consumption:

soft drinks consumption

daily 2-3 times weekly weekly rarely never Total

gender of respondant male 23 54 27 52 13 169

female 5 25 12 36 3 81

Total 28 79 39 88 16 250

Chi square value: 7.04 P value: 0.134

Table shows the relation between the soft drink consumption among male and female
students. 23(%) daily, 54(%) 2-3 times weekly consumer, 27(%) weekly user, 52(%) rarely
user, 13(%) not user out of 169 in case of male students. 5(%) daily user, 25(%) weekly 2-3
times, 12(%) weekly user, 36(%) rarely user, 3(%) not user out of 81 in case of female
students. The p value is greater than 0.05 so it is not significant.

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Table No. 12: Fruits consumption:

Frequency Percent

Yes 139 55.6

No 111 44.4

Total 250 100.0

Table demonstrates the frequency of fruit consumption among medical students with
percentage. It shows that out of 250(100%), 139(55.6%) were fruit consumer while
111(44.4%) were not.so the concept about the fruit is not that much in medical students.

Discussion:

The main findings insight into two main direction. First, it was determined that mean scores
from all dimensions of healthy lifestyle behaviours, were at a medium level except for
exercise. Second, healthy lifestyles are modulated by gender, maternal level of education,
residency, socioeconomic and marital status. A sedentary lifestyle is a common and serious
problem among university students. Compared to young adults in general, the pressure of
work is so severe for university students that much of their time and energy is likely to be
occupied with their studies On the other hand, the popularization of computers and the
Internet may provide more choices of entertainment and reduce interest in exercise .Lack of
exercise facilities is also a major reason why university students do not participate actively in
exercise. The previous investigations in Taiwan32 and Hong Kong 33
found that the mean
scores on the health-responsibility and exercise behavior dimensions were lower than the
average level; other dimensions were at a medium level. This difference on the score of
health responsibility dimension is considered to arise possibly from the dissimilarity between
sociocultural structures and enhancement of health consciousness with time. Male students
exercise more frequently and manage their stress better than female students but more likely
to take a health risk behavior like smoking than female students. This result shows similarity
with those obtained from some studies conducted in university students,34 although it differs
from the results of some studies.35 Exercise behavior and nutrition behavior score averages of
students irrespective of the socioeconomic status, health risk behaviour such as smoking were
found to be at lower lever in 250 medical students. There was much difference regarding the
socioeconomic status of students. The middle class students were at peak of 125 out of total

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250. My report analysis is different from Can et al.36 that reported those students’ total score
average of healthy lifestyle behaviours and score averages of subscales of physical activity,
nutrition, and interpersonal relations increased with the increase in their level of
socioeconomic status. It was also detected in other studies that students’ healthy lifestyle
behaviour score average increased together with the increase in their family income48 but its
not the case in here. Findings of our study corroborate those of similar studies in which it was
found that male consumed more servings of energy drink. Reason behind the findings can be
advertisement of energy drinks which primarily targets adult male.37
About one quarter of medical students and 18% of the participants in this study reported
smoking cigarette, out of which 2% were female while 26% were male, being very high for
this social group of our community. This prevalence is worrying and should be a trigger for
policy makers to take appropriate measures. The reason for lower prevalence in female
students due to social and cultural reasons. The prevalence of smoking among medical
students was reported in another study about 14.4%.38 A study conducted in Shiraz showed
that the prevalence of cigarette smoking was 18.48% among students, 12.5% among pre-
externship students, 7.19% among externship students and 16.95% among internship
students.39 Moreover my study shows responders whose mothers were educated found to be
nonsmokers as compared one whose mother are housewife which is different from other
studies.40
Nevertheless, some limitations of this study include the following aspects. First, no detailed
information about non-responders was collected. However, the high response rate limited
the effect of any bias due to missing information on non-respondents. Second, although the
interviewers received uniform training, their explanations of questionnaire items may have
influenced the results. Third, as shown in the tables, even though the regression models are
statistically significant, the explained amount of variance is considerably low. Thus further
studies should be conducted in multiple global settings to evaluate university students’
healthy lifestyles and associated factors more fully, before the findings are applied widely to
the establishment of health-promoting interventions.

Conclusion:
The main findings of this study revealed that a high percentage of university students do not
exhibit healthy lifestyles, and these can be predicted to some extent by social characteristics.
These results obtained here provide relevant information for future actions. To more

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effectively reduce chronic illnesses and improve population health, health education
programs should be planned to stimulate the interests of different students according to their
sociodemographic characteristics. Medical students are important role models for general
population so paying more attention to their personal lifestyle is necessary. Compared to
general population, their lifestyle was far better in some respect but it is not sufficient and
governments should design programs to improve medical students’ knowledge and behaviors
to maximize the level of accurate and healthy lifestyle.
Recommendations:

1. More studies like this should be carried out in order to find out the association of socio
demographic factors and health practices.

2. Educate and counsel mothers regarding maternal education and brought up of their
children.

3. Dietary and exercise counseling is required as a preventive strategy in this group.

4. Smoking should be strictly prohibited in the hostel students, easily availability of cigarettes
should be strictly prohibited.

Reference:

1. Koukouli S, Vlachonikolis IG, Philalithis A. Socio-demographic factors and self-reported

functional status: the significance of social support. BMC Health Serv Res 2002 Oct;2(1):20.

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