Obesity and Overweight and Its Association with Lifestyle and Fitness Level in Students

Inactive lifestyle has increased by urbanization and technological progress. It is a factor in increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity.This study aimed to investigate the association between obesity and overweight with lifestyle and fitness level in students. In this applied study, 360 students of Jahrom University (107 males aged 21.57±1.93 years and 253 females aged 20.91±1.63 years) were selected by random cluster sampling method. Height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were measured. Lifestyle and fitness level were evaluated using Berslow Life Index questionnaire and physical fitness index. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to evaluate association between study factors. The results show that the overall prevalence of overweight and obesity were 34.16% and 3.04% respectively. The relationship between BMI and lifestyle was (r = - 0.47; p = 0.02) and fitness levels (r = - 0.51; p = 0.02) in sport science student. There was aslso a negative relationship between BMI and lifestyle (r = -0.52; p = 0.01) in men students studying science. While a significant relationship was not observed between BMI and lifestyle in other faculties and both sexes. The results indicate that active lifestyle and a higher fitness level is inversely related to BMI, obesity, and overweight. In addition, Obesity and overweight are less common in active people than inactive people.