Poor Dietary Habits: A Function of Online Food Delivery Fad among Medical and Dental College Students in India

Abstract

Background Globalization has impacted our food choice and the booming online food industry has made it available at the click of a button. Students staying away from home often fail to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, impacting their health. Methods A survey was conducted amongst interns of medical and dental colleges in Delhi. Simple Random Sampling was done to select every alternate intern as per the list provided by the colleges. The survey included questions on dietary, fitness and food hygiene habits and dental history. Demographic details such as height weight and living arrangements were collected. Dietary habits score and Fitness & Food hygiene score was calculated based on pre-set criteria. Association of poor dietary habits and hygiene with BMI, living conditions and dental history was determined. Results One-fourth of the population was either overweight or obese. Poor, fair and good dietary habits was seen in 8.9%, 69.8% and 21.4% respectively. Poor, fair and good fitness and food hygiene was seen in 56.3%, 39.6% and 4.2% respectively. Obesity was significantly associated with poor fitness scores and with tendency to order junk food. Consumption of sugary food was associated with positive dental history, and those living with parents displayed good dietary habit score. Conclusion Students with high stress levels and living away from home are susceptible to poor dietary routine which impacts both their health and academic performance. Identifying these problems and triggers which induce such unhealthy lifestyle behaviour can go a long way in controlling the resultant health problems.