Assessment of possible risk factors for Metabolic Syndrome among selected students of Faculty of Science, University of Ruhuna

Abstract

The purpose of this cross sectional study was to assess possible risk factors and susceptibility for Metabolic Syndrome (MS) among undergraduates of Faculty of Science, University of Ruhuna and to examine the prevalence of risk factors for MS. Data were collected through interviews, discussions and questionnaires after taking the ethical approval from ethic committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna. A volunteer sample of 450 students (281 females; 169 males) was recruited to the study at all study levels. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation test. Frequency of risk factors for MS associated with male students was higher than female students. The prevalence of risk factors varies highly between different sex, age groups and the study levels. According to the results, 59.33% and 16.66% of total population were in non-desirable Obesity and Central Obesity respectively. 20.89% and 20.44% were not having Ideal Systolic Blood Pressure and Ideal Diastolic Blood Pressure respectively. Further 81.11% and 20.89% of the studied population were having low exercise and insufficient sleeping respectively. 20.67% were spent more than 180 min/day for computing and 82.88% were having non-vegetarian diet patterns. 37.87% of males used to consume alcohol. 16.66% of females and 17.49% of males were at high risk for MS. Pearson correlation test indicated that Obesity was significantly correlated with Gender, Central Obesity, Systolic & Diastolic Blood Pressure, Alcohol Consumption, Computing time and Exercise Levels. Exercise Level showed a significant correlation with Obesity (r= -0.709: p<0.05), Systolic Blood pressure (r=0.813: p<0.05) and Diastolic Blood Pressure (r=0.731: p<0.05). These findings suggest that many of the students in the studied population need lifestyle changes in order to avoid the possible development of MS.