Awareness of Risk Factors for Obesity among College Students in Tamil Nadu:A Questionnaire Based Study

Background: Obesity the most prevalent form of malnutrition in both developed and developing countries and affecting children as well as adults is replacing the more traditional public health concerns. Obesity and overweight are the fifth leading cause of deaths worldwide. As obesity is the key risk factor in natural history of other chronic non-communicable diseases, obesity prevention strategies offer a cost-effective approach in preventing other chronic non-communicable diseases. Awareness level is the basic necessity to effect a change in behaviour, more so in case of medical students as they can be the health educators of the community. Objective: To create awareness about risk factor of obesity among College students. Result: Among 100 students, 64 were men and 36 were women. It was found that 57.4% men and 72.7% women were not aware of its risk factors, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher compared to other studies and the awareness level was satisfactory.