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TITLE:

CALORIC ACTIVITY AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS (A SINGLE INSTITUTIONAL EXPERIENCE AT RIYADH ELM UNIVERSITY)

AUTHORS:

Dr. Sarah S Aburaisi, *Jumana M Al Mingash, Al Joharah M Al Yahya

ABSTRACT:

Abstract: Introduction: The study aims are to investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, measure the body mass index (BMI), and explore dietary habits, physical activity, and lifestyles. One more objective is to examine whether the dental academic lifestyle at Riyadh Elm University has contributed in any way to the student population’s well-being. Materials and methods: A single institutional study was done at Riyadh Elm University. First, we used two types of step-counting and caloric burner watches, the Apple watch and the Fitbit, to measure the participating students’ steps count and the caloric activity during five weekdays from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Secondly, a self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was disseminated among the students to get their weight and height for the BMI calculations. The questionnaire contains questions related to dietary habits, physical activity, and the lifestyle of the dental students. The chi-squared test was used to generate the significance of each question at significance <0.05. Results: A total of 93 students participated in the study. The findings revealed that 11.8%, 24.71%, 55.9%, and 7.52%, are obese, overweight, normal, and underweight, respectively. The results showed that there is no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between the groups was found for the questions asked about time spent exercising per day (p = 0.685). Conclusion: Improper dietary habits, including high-calorie intake and less exercise, do not mean that the students must be obese or overweight, The changes in daily activities for clinical students was associated with decreased BMI among the students. So, there is a need for intervention programs to increase the awareness of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Keywords: caloric activity, dental students, body mass index, steps, and diet.

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