Junk food consumption among undergraduate medical students in a medical college at Kolkata: A cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Junk food consumption is a common phenomenon amongst youths, including medical students, with its several health hazards. The objective of this study was to assess the junk food consumption pattern amongst medical students and to identify various factors associated with it. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 170 (1 st year and 2 nd year) undergraduate medical students of Kolkata during March–May 2023. Census method was used for selecting the study participants. Data were collected using a self-administered, structured questionnaire. Results: Amongst 170 participants, 63.5% were male. One-fifth (20.6%) of the participants consumed junk food for more than 4 days/week. About three-fourths (72.3%) of them did not read the nutrition information of junk food consumed. About one-third (32.3%) of the participants cited dislike for regular healthy food, another 20% had cited stress relief as reasons for this practice. Bakery (burger and pizza) products were the most common junk food consumed by the participants (40.5%). Different sociodemographic factors were found to be associated with the consumption of junk food, namely living status, occupation of father, accompanying persons during junk food consumption, availability of junk food at home and habit of reading the nutrition information. One-fourth (24.1%) of the participants were overweight or obese, and this was significantly associated with the frequency of junk food consumption. Conclusions: Thus, junk food consumption is widely prevalent amongst medical students, with several factors associated with it. This practice should be curtailed to prevent adverse health effects amongst the budding physicians.