A Study on the Assessment of Nutritional Attitude among the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students at an Indian Pharmacy College

Abstract

Aim: To assess the nutritional attitude among the undergraduate and postgraduate students at an Indian Pharmacy college.

Methods: A total of 173 students were participated in this study and by providing the questionnaires to the students, the data was collected in a very precise manner. The Mini Nutritional Assessment Scale consists of various questions in the aspects of screening and assessing the nutritional status of an individual. Based on the total assessment, Malnutrition Indicator Score can be classified into malnourished (< 17 points), at risk of malnutrition (17 to 23.5 points) and normal nutritional status (24 to 30 points).

Results: Among the 173 students 43 (24.9%) students were males and 130 (75.1%) students were females. The mean age of the overall study population was observed to be 20.8 years. The mean weight of the overall study population was observed to be 57.2 kg. Majority of the students were observed with height 151-160cm (43.9%) followed by 161-170cm (28.9%). Most of the study participants were observed to be having no decrease in food intake (56.7%) followed by moderate decrease in food intake (38.7%) over the past 3 months due to loss of appetite, digestive problems, chewing or swallowing difficulties. In this study, most of the students were observed with normal nutritional status (48%) followed by at risk of malnutrition (45.1%) based upon the Malnutrition Indicator Score for assessment of nutritional status.

Conclusion: In this study most of the study participants were observed with normal nutritional status followed by at risk of malnutrition. The students who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition should focus on taking a balanced diet with sufficient nutrition intake may help them to maintain healthy life style. Proper nutrition should be maintained by consuming more amounts of proteins compared to carbohydrates, eating fruits and vegetables regularly is very important aspect of balanced diet. Sufficient fluid intake is also required for a healthy life style. Along with these aspects regular physical activity is much more beneficial to maintain the healthy BMI which improves fitness of the human body.