Assessing Physical and Demographic Conditions of Freshman "15" Male Medical Students

Abstract

Objectives:  Anthropometric conditions of college students following their admission to college programs is one of the concerns of health authorities as well as the health policy makers. The concept of ‘Freshman 15’ is a popular term that describes dramatic weight gain of college students. This research was designed to examine the anthropometric conditions of newly admitted medical students. Methods:  51 male students aged 19 - 21 years old admitted to the undergraduate programs in colleges of medicine at Kashan University of Medical Sciences participated in this cross sectional study. Demographic characteristics of the participants including age, weight, waist and hip circumferences sizes were measured and recorded. Flexible tape was used to measure waist and hip circumferences sizes in centimeter. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Pearson correlation tests with the significant levels of P ≤ 0.05. Results:  The result indicated that only 16 (34.4 percent) of the admitted students had normal weight while 26 (51 percent) were overweight and 8 (15.7 percent) were fat. In addition, 18 (35.3 percent) were in age 18 group, 15 (29.4 percent) in age 19 and 18 (35.3 percent) were in age 20 group. The result of one-way ANOVA suggested that there was a significant difference between the BMI of the age group of 18 to the 19 and 20 years old (respectively, P = 0.02, P = 0.03), while no significant differences was found between the age group 19 and 20 years old (P > 0.05). Conclusions:  The result suggested that a considerable proportion of newly admitted male medical students are already overweight or fat prior to starting their medical education. Further research is needed to follow the weight changes after they start their medical education.