Prevalence of and factors associated with various level of body weight among Inner Mongolia medical students in China

Background: To date no study on the body weight of medical students in Inner Mongolia has been carried out. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with various body weight levels, and the physical health status associated with body weight levels among medical students attending the Inner Mongolia Medical College of China in 2011. Methods: Data on participant characteristics came from basic information contained in the school database. Students’ body weight was categorized using standard height and weight and physical health status using the college student physical health standard. Factors associated with various level of body weight were identified using multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results: The sample comprised 2060 males and 5096 females. The appropriate body weight prevalence among the students was 51.7%. The prevalence of being overweight or obese was 5.8 and 8.5%, respecttively, higher compared to the typical prevalence among college students in China. Both male and female students in the 24-28-years age group had the lowest appropriate weight percentage and the highest obesity percentage among all the age groups. For female medical students, the prevalence of obesity for students studying in Clinical Medicine was higher than for other faculties. Multinomial logistic regression analysis of male students showed that lowest year of education (year 1) was a protective factor in regard to appropriate weight. For both male and female medical students, the obese group had the highest proportion of poor physical health status compared to other categories of body weight and the proportion with excellent physiccal health status constituted < 1% for males and 0% for females. Conclusions: School administrators should encourage medical students to actively participate in body weight training and education to improve attitudes toward inappropriate body weight, to increase protective factors, and reduce the risk factors for inappropriate body weight.