Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: September | Volume: 7 | Issue: 9 | Pages: 62-67
A Cross-Sectional Study to Analyze the Association between Anthropometric Measurements and Academic Performance among I Year Indian Medical Students
Rose Babu, Sunithapriya A. K
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Jubilee Mission Medical College, Eastfort, Thrissur, Kerala.
Corresponding Author: Rose Babu
ABSTRACT
Objective: Relationship between overweight and academic performance in children and adolescents has been studied, but the results are inconclusive. It is known that medical profession demands immense effort and students are more prone to develop stress which might affect their body weight and hence their studies. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the association between anthropometry and academic performance of I year medical students.
Materials and methods: Anthropometric measurements like height, weight, waist and hip circumference of 100 I year medical students were taken. They were subdivided based on their BMI as underweight, normal and overweight subgroups. Academic performance was assessed based on their marks obtained for physiology theory exam which was done during their course of study.
Results: There is a significant negative association between anthropometric measurements and academic performance (Pearson correlation, p<0.05). There was no significant association between anthropometry and academic performance when adjusted for gender (logistic regression). Female students performed better than males, showing a significant association between gender and academic performance when controlled for BMI (logistic regression, p<0.001).
Conclusion: Our present study found that there is no association between academic performance and anthropometric measurements. Female students performed better when compared to male students. Studies with larger sample size, adjusting for all confounding factors are recommended to confirm the finding.
Key words: Academic performance, medical students, anthropometry, gender