Risk factors associated with obesity in university students recently joined the medical school of the University of Zulia

Introduction: Changes in lifestyle have been associated with obesity in university students; therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the risk factors associated with obesity in newly admitted students of the School of Medicine, University of Zulia, Maracaibo-Venezuela. Methods: Cross-sectional study which evaluated 178 subjects of both sexes, aged between 17 and 20 years belonging to the courses of first and second year of the School of Medicine, University of Zulia, whom underwent complete clinical history, family history, hours spent studying, sleeping, playing video games and watching TV. Physical activity was assessed by using International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Quantitative variables were expressed as medians (p25-p75) and qualitative variables were expressed as absolute and relative frequencies. After that, a multiple logistic regression model was generated to analyze the relationship between different risk factors regarding the diagnosis of overweight or obesity. Results: The highest proportion of the population studied had a normal BMI accounting for 65.7% of the sample tested. The prevalence of obesity was 6.7% and 15.7% overweight. Risk factors associated with obesity diagnosis were: 1. maternal history of diabetes mellitus type 2, 2. having more than 2 hours of exposure to TV and video games, and 3. sleeping more than 7 hours per day. Conclusions: The prevalence of obesity in our study was low. Exposure for more than 2 hours to video games or TV, sleep more than seven hours/day and maternal history of type 2 diabetes mellitus behave as risks factors for obesity in this group.