Training in Dietary Practices and Physical Activity to Improve Health among South Asian Medical Students

Introduction. We designed a pilot intervention to test the effect of a training program on the dietary and physical activities of medical students after weekly group discussions about healthy living, maintaining a healthy diet, and healthy lifestyle. Methods. Two groups of students from first and second years of medical school were selected with the intervention group having high BMI (overweight or obese) while control group had normal BMI. An eight-week educational intervention was completed. A closed Facebook group ensured continuous communication. Results. Out of 42 participants, 19 were controls and 21 received educational training. Male : female ratio was 1 : 1.7 in control group and 1 : 1.3 in intervention group. The mean (SD) weight gain in controls (1.16 Kg, SD = 1.51) was higher than that in intervention (0.13 Kg, SD = 3.22) group (P = 0.2). The average reduction in caloric intake was higher in control group (117.85, SD = 258.48) vis-a-vis the intervention group (73.22, SD = 266.84) (P = 0.61). Conclusion. Educational intervention in small groups for bringing about behavioral changes towards dietary, nutrition, and physical activity can lead to changes in the target population. The short duration of our study was a limitation which should be overcome in future studies.