BMI, NUTRITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, FOOD HABITS AND EATING BEHAVIOUROF UNDER-GRADUATE ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCE STUDENTS

Objective: To assess the BMI, nutritional knowledge, food habits and eating behaviour of undergraduate allied health science students Materials and Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted among 374 undergraduate students of allied health science. Height and Weight measurements of each student who consented to the study was recorded. They were interviewed using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire, on nutritional knowledge, food habits and eating behaviour. Results: 24 %. students were overweight or obese. Breakfast was missed by 32% students. It was found that 74% of the students consumed junk food during breakfast. 47 % did not do any physical activities. 35.5% students scored good on Nutritional Knowledge. Conclusion: Unhealthy food habits and eating behaviour exits among the youth. They are mostly over weight and do not have the right nutritional knowledge to prevent diseases related to nutritional disorders in future.