Eat Fast, Die Young: The Pattern of Fast Food Consumption amongst International Medical Students

Objective: To investigate the factors influencing fast-food consumption amongst the International Medical Students of USM-KLE.

Hypothesis: Fast food consumption is deleterious to the overall health of a person, and thus we expect low fast food consumption amongst medical students of USM-KLE. Nevertheless, due to the lack of awareness and poor understanding of the ill effects of fast food consumption, the pattern of fast food consumption is increasing among the medical students of USM-KLE.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted in the month of June 2018 by distributing questionnaires to 326 Malaysian students –from year 1 to year 5 – who are studying in Belgaum, India. The questions touched on the aspects of their profile, driving factors of fast food consumption, routine exercise pattern, and their knowledge on the deleterious effects of fast food on their health. Data was collected for their experience both in Malaysia & India, & these were then analysed using SPSS 16.0 software.

Results: In this study, the results were coded & translated according to each question. It is observed that there is a high prevalence of fast food consumption amongst the students; 97% of the students consume fast food.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that despite their knowledge on the poor health effects of these foods. the students prefer to consume fast food mostly on the basis of their hectic schedule, the restaurants’ close distance, the good taste of the meals, as well as their fast availability.