Effect of BMI and gender on stress and anxiety - A physiological insight

Abstract

Introduction: There are various stressors that a student will encounter during their initial college days and our focus is to assess if gender and BMI have any effect on the stress and anxiety experienced by students. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire based study was conducted in a private medical college. 172 students doing their paramedical course participated in the study. Anxiety and stress were assessed using Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and Cohens stress scale. BMI was calculated using anthropometric data. Results: The prevalence of low, moderate and high stress among students was 15.7%, 34.3% and 50.0% respectively. Similarly 29.1% students showed mild anxiety, 36% and 34.9% had moderate and severe anxiety. 57% females showed high stress. Anxiety values was similar among both genders. There was no association between stress and BMI. But underweight students showed more anxiety than others. Discussion: Study shows a wide prevalence of stress and anxiety among students. BMI also acts as a contributing factor for stress. Priority must be given for psychosocial well being of students as it reflects in their academic excellence and social behavior.