Anxiety in medical students: its relationship with the consumption of unhealthy foods, obesity, and the risk of cardiometabolic diseases

Abstract

Introduction: anxiety influences the eating behavior of medical students who consume unhealthy foods to mitigate stress by seeking the feeling of well-being and relaxation generated by the release of dopamine associated their consumption. Understanding this relationship is important to design interventions and health programs focused on improving students' well-being and promoting healthier eating habits. And therefore, reduce the recurrence of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease in young adults, which promote a greater cardiometabolic risk. Objectives: to determine the level of anxiety in medical students, and its relationship with the consumption of unhealthy foods, obesity, and cardiometabolic risk. Results: 95 \% of the students reported symptoms of anxiety (49 \% men, 51 \% women), with an average of moderate anxiety (p < 0.001); 74 \% indicated being emotional eaters (33.87 \% men, 40.63 \% women), where the most consumed food was sweets (51.4 \%), followed by savory foods (32.27 \%), fats (11.15 \%), and healthy foods (5.18 \%). According to the BMI, 44 \% of the population is classified as having a high weight (31.87 \% overweight and 11.96 \% obese), and among this group, 41.5 \% have central obesity and are at risk of metabolic disease. Students who exhibited anxiety showed a moderate positive correlation (0.497) with the consumption of unhealthy foods, where the exposed group has a high risk of being emotional eaters. Conclusions: the prevalence of anxiety among medical students was high, being this a factor that contributes to the consumption of unhealthy foods, which causes nutritional repercussions and poses a risk for the development of cardiometabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemias. For this reason, it is important to implement reinforcements and measures in nutritional education, where the scientific and academic community must be included.