Does body mass index influence cognitive functions among young medical students?

Abstract

Background: Cognitive abilities are essential for young medical students to acquire the knowledge and same to be executed in clinical practice. There are a wide variety of risk factors that can lead to cognitive impairment and dementia in their early adolescence. Objective: The present study was proposed to find out the extent of cognitive impairment and its association with body mass index among young medical students. Materials & methods: It was a cross-sectional study undertaken in 225 medical students, both male and female, aged between 18 and 20 years. Following the calculation of BMI, all individuals were divided into four groups. Later, the cognitive processes were examined on a single occasion using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: There was a significant link between systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), weight, and BMI in different groups. Similarly, significant values (p = 0.04) were found among different groups in respect to gender, with obese females (41.1%) having a higher percentage distribution than males. The link of BMI with cognitive scores was found to be significantly higher (p0.01) among distinct groups. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, a greater BMI may raise the likelihood of cognitive impairment in young students. Our findings imply that students with a high BMI may benefit from weight management.

Keywords

• Overweight
• Obesity
• Mini-mental state examination
• Mild cognitive impairment