Body mass index and quality of life among students aged nineteen to twenty two years

Abstract Aim: The purpose of this research is to identify and analyze the association of the Body Mass Index (BMI) and quality of life (QoL) components in students aged 19 to 22 that attended physical education classes once a week during a whole semester. The students come from different faculties of the West University of Timişoara. Methods: The research was conducted during the physical education classes to which they participated during one semester. The research has begun in October 2018 and ended in January 2019. A total of 400 students were asked to participate in this study, 200 female and 200 male students. As research methods, we used the RAND 36 Item Short Form Health Survey SF-36 questionnaire to assess the quality of life, as well as the statistical-mathematical method. Results: Our results showed that 66% of the students had a normal BMI, 12% are underweight, 17% are overweight and 12% are obese. It has been found that the quality of life score does not depend on the body mass index. No correlation has been found between the QOL total score and BMI in neither male students r=0.035, R²=0.0012, p=0.62, nor female students r=-0.01, R²<0.001, p=0.88.