1. Dietary patterns in a group of medical students
Maria Niţescu, Florentina Ligia Furtunescu,
A. Streinu-Cercel, Marina Oţelea, Bucharest, Romania
The 39th National Congress of the Romanian Society of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases

2. OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the dietary patterns and the metabolic
syndrome prevalence in a population of medical students
To assess the need of intervention in this population.

3. STUDY DESIGN
235 students, grade I to V, of the Faculty of Medicine in Bucharest were investigated during
Cross sectional study
Enrollment criteria: subjects without known or treated diabetes and never treated with antihypertensive therapy
Anthropometric and biological measurements were performed
FFQ - Block Fat/Sugar/Fruit/Vegetable Screener self-administrated on-line
Quantitative intake of nutrients was estimated based on the methodology developed by Nutrition Quest
Statistical analysis were performed with the SPSS 17.0.

4. QUESTIONNAIRE DESCRIPTION
The questionnaire included 40 questions regarding eating habits over the past year.
For each type of food, subjects were asked to answer at 2 questions:
“how many days/week on average do you eat that food”
“how much on those days do you usually eat”
Supplemental 15 questions investigated the preferred types of food such as: soft drinks, pastry, milk, sweets, processed meet, snacks (e.g. chips), margarine, cereal, bread in relation with their content in sugar, salt, fat or trans-fat
E.g.” If you drink soft drinks, is it usually:
Diet or sugar free
Regular
I don´t drink soft drinks”

5. RESULTS DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
Age of subjects ranged from years
average of years (standard deviation = 2.32, variation coefficient = 10.6%).
Distribution by gender:
There were 165 (70.2%) women and 70 men (29.8%).

6. RESULTS ANTROPOMETRIC PARAMETERS
Weight
(kg)
Height
(cm)
BMI
(kg/m2)
Waist circumference W M
Average
57.61
72.46
165.44
179.51
21.04
22.46
83.58
86.30
St deviation
9.24
11.07
5.708
7.287
3.179
3.085
8.611
8.713
Maximum 98
120
183
197 37 38
117
130
Minimum 40 53
152
164 15 17 65 73

7. FREQUENCY OF DIAGNOSIS CRITERIA FOR METABOLIC SYNDROME BY GENDER

8. RESULTS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN
Distribution of waist circumference by gender

9. VALUES OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME PARAMETERS IN WOMEN, depending on the value of waist circumference
Measured parameter
WC< 80 cm
WC>80 cm
average
standard deviation
BMI* (kg/m2)
19.12
1.94
22.12
3.24
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)
108.88
10.64
108.35
9.03
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)
67.24
9.96
66.96
7.81
Fasting plasma glucose (mg/dl)
79.67
8.88
81.31 9
Triglycerides (mg/dl)
71.66
29.77
77.25
40.28
HDL* (mg/dl)
71.16
11.79
63.4
14.87

10. VALUES OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME PARAMETERS IN MEN, depending on the value of waist circumference
Measured parameter
WC< 94 cm
WC>94 cm
average
standard deviation
BMI* (kg/m2)
21,7
2,248
26,37
4,075
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)
117,2
10,686
119,6
10,113
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)
72,84
8,383
75,91
7,355
Fasting plasma glucose (mg/dl)
81,71
8,146
83,09
6,472
Triglycerides (mg/dl)
76,9
38,179
76,18
25,459
HDL* (mg/dl)
54,81
11,166
48,36
11,526

11. RESULTS Nutrient Content of the Diet – MEN
Parameter
Mean
95% CI for mean
Median SD
Min
lower bound
upper bound
Saturated fat*
24.27
21.53
27.01
21.68
11.48 5
Trans fat*
6.4
5.41
7.4
5.83
4.158 1
Sugar*
112.2
98.8
125.58
113.89
56.16 27
Free sugar
78.46
65.4
91.51
66.37
54.77
Fruits
1.44
1.17
1.7
1.131
Veggies
1.33
1.12
1.54
1.24
0.876
Fruits and veggies
2.77
2.35
3.19
2.43
1.762
kcalories*
1828
1653.3
2002.2
1749.7
731.7
621
Proteins*
72.82
64.67
80.97
67.35
34.18 22
Total fat*
71.07
63.5
78.63
66.01
31.71 21
Carbohidrates*
223.2
202.05
244.32
214.3
88.64 68
Fibers
11.28
10.16
12.4
10.87
4.701 4

12. RESULTS Nutrient Content of the Diet – WOMEN
Parameter
Mean
95% CI for mean
Median SD
Min
Max
lower bound
upper bound
Saturated fat*
18.89
17.43
20.35
16.7
9.519 3 50
Trans fat*
5.42
4.74
6.11
4.27
4.437 23
Sugar*
93.55
84.69
102.4
77.98
57.61 15
362
Free sugar
66.21
56.84
73.59
49.56
54.48 4
355
Fruits
1.36
1.21
1.51 1
0.972
Veggies
1.35
1.2
1.5
1.09
0.969 5
Fruits and veggies
2.71
2.46
2.96
2.48
1.649 9
kcalories*
1442
1345
1540.2
1336.9
636.4
284
3504
Proteins*
54.82
50.93
58.71
50.23
25.3 11
158
Total fat*
55.77
51.62
59.93
49.27
27.03
149
Carbohidrates*
186
172.8
199.15
162.71
85.74 42
459
Fibers
10.42
9.64
11.2
9.21
5.057 34

13. RESULTS Analysis of nutrients related to chronic disease risk
Gender
Intake within the recommended limit
Intake beyond the recommended limit
No. of subjects %
SFA
Men 3 4% 67
96%
Women 5 3%
159
97%
Trans fat 4 6% 66
94% 16
10%
148
90%
Free sugar 21
30% 49
70%
115
Fruit and veggies 9
13% 61
87% 19
12%
146
88%
Fibers 7% 65
93% 5%
155
95%

14. RESULTS SATURATED AND TRANS FAT INTAKE
saturated fats represents:
12% of the total caloric contribution in our study.
97% of women and 96% of men have saturated fat intake above the threshold recommended by WHO.
trans fats represents:
3% of the total caloric contribution of both genders
6% for men and 10% for women consume trans fat within the limits recommended by WHO.

15. RESULTS SUGAR INTAKE Free sugar represents:
17.22 % (women ) and 16.43% (men) respectively, from the total caloric contribution.
70% of the subjects have an intake of free sugar above the limit recommended by WHO

16. RESULTS FRUITS AND VEGETABLES INTAKE
The average number of portions of vegetables and fruit consumed daily was:
2.71 for women
2.77 for men.
Only 12.8% of the men and 11.5% of the women, consumed daily at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables.
Intake of fruit and vegetables < 5 portions /day was declared as regular dietary habit by:
77.2% of men
88.5% of women.

17. RESULTS FIBERS The average intake of fibers was: 11.28g/day for men
10.42 g/day for women.
Only 7% of the men and 5% of the women consumed fibers in a sufficient quantity.

18. CONCLUSION
Prevalence of diagnosis criteria for metabolic syndrome was relatively low in this group, except for waist circumference.
Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 1.28% (1.2% in women and 1.4% in men).
Although the average caloric intake is in the normal range for age, sex and type of activity, more than 90% of medical students in this study have an unhealthy diet, with:
high intake of saturated fat, trans fat, free sugar and
low intake of fruits, vegetables and fibers.

19. CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that young age of subjects from our study contribute to the low prevalence of metabolic syndrome, despite this unhealthy diet.
The level of information and healthy diet behavior are expected to be lower in the general population.
Doctors with healthy diet are more effective in promoting healthy diet to their patients. So, based on our results, we consider that the level of awareness, knowledge and behavior regarding nutrition inside the medical students community has to be improved.
Our study highlights the need of a public health program in the nutrition field.