European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

NUTRITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS IN MADURAI

C. Anitha Mohan*, P. Kannan and K. Vidhya

ABSTRACT

The role of nutrition in health promotion, disease prevention and treatment of chronic diseases is well recognized. Balanced nutrition is vital for optimum growth and development of the individual as well as for the proper functioning of various organ systems. Apart from being an important part of weight management, diet plays a substantial role in the etiology of many chronic degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis and some types of cancer. Thus nutrition can be considered as a double edged sword with one end of the spectrum occupied by nutrient deficiency disorders while at the other end we have diseases of surplus. So medical professionals have to play an important role in educating the patients regarding what they eat in order to emphasize the importance of diet in the management as well as prevention of disease conditions. In this scenario nutrition knowledge of doctors becomes essential. This study was carried out in II year medical students who are budding medical professionals. Moreover this age group is considered as the age of emerging identity when specific behavior patterns are established. And so in this study we have tried to examine the nutritional knowledge and dietary behavior of these students using GNKQ.

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