Prevalence of Non Communicable Diseases’ Risk Factors among Medical Students in South Kolkata, West Bengal

Introduction: Evidence indicates that the pathophysiological pro- cess of major Non communicable diseases (NCDs) begins at early age, though the manifestations of the disease do not appear until middle age. The prevalence of each risk factor for NCDs might dif- fer among different age-groups, which will affect the implementa- tion of intervention programs. Seeing the role of medical students as future physicians and role models in public health intervention programs, research related to the risk factors for NCDs among them is need of hour. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the WHO global STEPS- approach to know the prevalence of risk factors for NCDs among 166 undergraduate medical students of a medical college in Kolkata. STEPS questionnaire version 2.1 was used to collect information on behavioral risk factors, followed by physical measurements and blood sampling for biochemical profile. Results: It was observed that most of students are at risk to devel- op NCDs. The cumulative effect of risk factors bundles-up and eventually leads to disease as student advance through their life. Conclusion: Developing strategies targeting at this age-group is necessary to reduce the premature morbidity and mortality due to major NCDs.