Study of modifiable risk factors associated with learning abilities in MBBS students

Introduction: Healthy body is the basis for healthy mind and sound learning. Factors affecting physical health can influence one’s learning abilities.  BMI, neck girth, breakfast eating habits, resting blood pressures are surrogates of physical health; when they err different learning skills may go hayward. Materials and Methods:  A cross-sectional study was carried out on first year medical students in a medical college in western part of central India. 127 complete entries were evaluated by ‘Metacognitive Awareness Inventory’. Obesity was assessed by BMI and Neck Circumference, and resting blood pressure measured by standing mercury sphygmomanometer. Breakfast eating behaviour was assessed by semi structured close-ended questionnaire. The data were coded and analysed by SPSS version 20. The level of significance was assigned at p Results: On Pearson correlation analysis it was observed that metacognitive awareness inventory (r = -0.191, p Conclusion: Obesity favouring factors and increased BP correlated strongly with diminished metacognition power, whereas daily breakfast eating had strong relationship with improved knowledge about cognition and comprehension skills. Keywords: Learning skills, Metacognition awareness inventory, Breakfast habits, Obesity, Blood pressure.