International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | December 2018 | Vol 6 | Issue 12 Page 4002 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Khan T et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2018 Dec;6(12):4002-4007 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Unfeasible body mass index and its association with low haemoglobin concentration: a correlation study among undergraduate medical students Tazeen Khan 1 , Zahid A. Khan* 2 , Sonia Kochhar 1 , Baljinder Singh 1 , Gurdev L. Goyal 1 , Ruby Sharma 1 INTRODUCTION Anemia and malnutrition are the major nutritional public health problems imposing a double burden on populations globally. Low hemoglobin concentration as a result of iron deficiency causes fatigue and reduces work capacity, impairs cognition with low academic performance in children and adolescents, and also has adverse effects on the pregnancy outcomes. 1-5 Underweight also increases the risk of low birth weight in pregnancy, and is associated with osteoporosis even in young people. 6,7 Overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence is now believed to be a major risk factor for early onset of chronic diseases among adults, and also impedes academic performance in children and adolescents. 8-10 1 Department of Physiology, 2 Department of Community Medicine, MM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India Received: 02 October 2018 Accepted: 29 October 2018 *Correspondence: Dr. Zahid A. Khan, E-mail: drzahidalikhan@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Low hemoglobin concentration and unfeasible body mass index adversely affect the health of people, consequently increasing morbidity and mortality among them. Hemoglobin concentration among individuals is associated with their body mass index. The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia is higher among underweight and overweight/obese people compared to those with normal BMI. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the correlation between hemoglobin concentration and BMI of undergraduate medical students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 210 undergraduate medical students. Body mass index was calculated and hemoglobin estimation was done by Sahli's hemoglobinometer. Correlation between hemoglobin concentration and body mass index of subjects was assessed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: Underweight students had lowest mean hemoglobin concentration and the mean hemoglobin concentrations increased significantly (p<0.001) with increase in the BMI of subjects. A highly significant positive correlation (r=0.307, p<0.001) between BMI and hemoglobin concentration was observed. Further, significant positive correlation was observed among males (r=0.268, p=0.013), students with normal BMI (r=0.283, p=0.003) and overweight students (r=0.415, p=0.035) only. Conclusions: Hemoglobin concentration and BMI show a positive correlation, however this correlation tends to become negative in obese individuals. As both low hemoglobin concentration and unfeasible body mass index have detrimental effects on the health, diligent screening and management of both is essential for better outcome. Keywords: Anemia, Body mass index, Correlation, Gender, Hemoglobin, Iron, Overweight, Obesity, Students DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20184898