Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Background and Objectives: Abdominal and general obesities are greatly affected by diet and physical activities. Prevalence of this complication in communities has an increasing trend, so that even adolescents are no exception in this regard. The current study aimed to investigate abdominal and general obesity and its related factors in’ students of Qom city.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 301 (17 girls and 114 boys) students in medical and Azad universities in Qom city. These individuals were selected by proportional to size sampling method and studied by anthropometric measures, international short physical activity questionnaire, and 11-item nutritional habits questionnaire. Data were analyzed by independent t-, chi-square, and correlation coefficient tests. The significance level was considered to be α=0.05.

Results: The mean BMI and WHR in students was 22.6±3.2kg/m2 and 0.8±0.0, respectively. A significant direct correlation was observed between anthropometric measures and abdominal obesity. Only 23.3% of the students had regular sport activity, so that the mean light physical activity in obese students was lower than normal students (38.9±43.1 vs. 60.8±67.5min). No heavy physical activity was seen in this group, and fast-food consumption was higher in this group of students compared to the normal students (93.2% vs. 67.8%).

Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, there is a significant relationship between nutritional status and level of physical activity and abdominal and general obesity. Therefore, overweight, abdominal, and general obesity were lower in male students, and subjects involved in regular physical activity and lower fast-food consumption.