Background: Early adulthood obesity itself is a predictor of adult obesity and of higher than expected adult morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to know the prevalence and determinants of obesity in college students of Vadodara and Patan city of Gujarat, India.Methods: The present cross sectional study was undertaken during April 2017 to March 2018 in randomly selected 5 Colleges of Vadodara city and Patan City of Gujarat. Total 1330 students between the age group of 18 to 23 years were examined and BMI were calculated. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were determined based on the International Obesity Task Force criteria. Various determinants of obesity and overweight were studied by interviewing students. Thus collected data was analyzed using SPSS 17 (Trial version).Results: Out of 1330 students, males were 49.6% Prevalence of obesity and overweight was 6.1% and 11.0% respectively. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was higher amongst less active group (6.5% and 13.4% respectively). Prevalence of obesity and overweight was significantly higher in the group of students who spent >2 hours daily in front of television or computers. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was significantly higher amongst group of students who took daily calories above recommended dietary allowance (21.5% and 22.8% respectively). The prevalence of obesity and overweight was significantly higher who took junk food (9.3% and 14.8% respectively).Conclusions: High prevalence of obesity and overweight in college students indicate an urgent need to increase awareness via education and motivation of all stakeholders.

Background: The prevalence of obesity has rising trends worldwide in almost every country in all the age groups. The objectives of the present study were to know the prevalence of obesity and overweight among students and to assess knowledge of these students regarding hazards of obesity and its preventive measures before and after educational interventional training.Methods: The present interventional study was undertaken during September 2016 to December 2017 in randomly selected 3 Government Arts Colleges of Patan, Ahmedabad and Vadodara city of Gujarat state, India. Total 313 students between the age group of 18 to 23 years were examined and body mass index were calculated. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were determined based on the International Obesity Task Force criteria. Single educational training for 45 minutes was given to the students and their post-intervention knowledge for same was assessed after the training. Thus collected data was analyzed using SPSS 17 (trial version).Results: Overall, the prevalence of obesity and overweight was 9.9% and 14.6% respectively. Baseline knowledge of the students regarding hazards of obesity like hypertension, cancer, myocardial infarction and diabetes mellitus was 19.5%, 18.8%, 17.3% and 16.6% respectively which was significantly increased to 91.4%, 94.2%, 96.2% and 96.8% respectively after the intervention. Baseline knowledge of the students regarding preventive measure of obesity like avoiding junk food/ healthy diet, exercise and meditation was 25.2%, 27.2% and 30.7% respectively which was significantly increased to 96.5%, 99.7 and 98.7% respectively after the intervention.Conclusions: Single educational session has increased the knowledge regarding hazards of obesity and its preventive measures among college students significantly.