Roopam Bassi, et al. Correlation of BMI and Anxiety National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy & Pharmacology | 2014 | Vol 4 | Issue 3 | 208 – 212 RESEARCH ARTICLE A STUDY OF CORRELATION OF ANXIETY LEVELS WITH BODY MASS INDEX IN NEW MBBS STUDENTS Background: Medical students represent a highly educated population and encounter multiple stresses. Newly admitted MBBS students may experience anxiety. Altered BMI can lead to mental health disorders. Aims & Objective: The present study aims to assess the anxiety levels among the new MBBS students and to evaluate a correlation between BMI and anxiety levels. Materials and Methods: 150 new MBBS students were taken and divided into groups- Group-A, hostellers and Group-B, day-scholars; Hamilton Anxiety scale was used to assess the anxiety levels. These anxiety scores were correlated with their BMI values. Results: The anxiety scores were significantly more in female students as compared to the male students. Among the females the anxiety scores were more in female hostellers than their male counterparts. The difference in anxiety scores in male and female day scholars was not significant. Correlation studies showed only a significant correlation between BMI and anxiety scores in male hostellers. Conclusion: Anxiety is present in newly admitted MBBS students varying from mild to severe form. To tide over this anxiety different strategies should be adopted which include counseling and stress management techniques at the very start of the curriculum. Key Words: MBBS Students; Body Mass Index (BMI); Anxiety Roopam Bassi 1 , Saurabh Sharma 2 , Manjeet Kaur 1 1 Department of Physiology, Sri Guru Ram Das, Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Amritsar, India 2 Department of Dermatology & Venereology, Sri Guru Ram Das, Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Amritsar, India Correspondence to: Roopam Bassi (drroopamsharma@yahoo.co.in) Received Date: 31.03.2014 Accepted Date: 08.04.2014 DOI: 10.5455/njppp.2014.4.080420142 INTRODUCTION Anxiety is a physiological and psychological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional and behavioral components. [1] It is a general state of uneasiness that causes nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. It is a bodily response to a perceived danger or threat that could be real or imagined and triggered by an individual’s thoughts, beliefs and feelings. These disorders affect how we feel and behave, and they can manifest real physical symptoms. [2] Stress, depression and anxiety can contribute to absenteeism and lack of confidence among the people. [3] One of the most common problems facing college students is anxiety. Students are burdened with the pressure of being in a new environment, being far and wide from home and stress of the race of doing well in the studies. These students may face many psychological problems most frequent is the anxiety disorder. Typically, anxiety disorders involve disturbances in mood, thinking, behavior and physiological activity. They present as adjustment disorders with anxious disorders, test or performance anxiety, social phobia and sometimes may turn into severe forms as depression and panic disorders. [4] Medical students represent a highly educated population and they encounter multiple stresses and emotional challenges during their transformation from a student to a young knowledgeable physician. [5] So there is a need to quantify the anxiety, depression and its associated factors among medical students so that the affected students should be counseled and rehabilitated and if untreated, can lead to mental distress and have a negative impact on their cognitive functioning and learning. [6] The potential sources of stress among students may include academic stress, enormous syllabus to be covered in a limited period of time, sudden change in their style of studying, lack of proper guidance, thought of failing in exams, relationship with peer groups, expectations of parents, change in medium of education and to all above the hostilities have their own set of problems including hostel friends, hostel food, peer pressure and displacement from home. [7] As far as academic stressors are concerned, academic performance especially in the First Professional, examination criteria dissatisfaction and being overburdened with test schedule were significantly associated with anxiety, which is the case in a number of other studies as well, suggesting academic stressors as being a source of psychological distress among medical students. [8,9] Some researchers suggest that obesity can lead to common mental health disorders, whilst others have