The objective of this study was to assess the
prevalence of modifiable risk factors of the major noncommunicable
diseases (NCDs) among medical students.
A cross sectional study was conducted at three randomly
selected medical colleges in the Kathmandu Valley in
Nepal. All third-year medical students (n = 191) participated
in the study. A total of 62.3 % of the respondents
were male, and 37.7 % were female. The mean age of the
respondents was 21.5 ± 1.0 (SD) years. A total of 20.4 %
(n = 39) of the medical students were current tobacco
users and 50.8 % (n = 97) have ever consumed alcohol.
The majority (85.6 %) of the medical students did not
consume the daily recommended amount of fruits and
vegetables. A total of 30.9 % (n = 59) of the medical
students were involved in low level of physical activity and
42.9 % (n = 82) were involved in moderate level of physical
activity. This study showed a high prevalence of risk
factors of major NCDs among medical students and interventions
are needed to change the unhealthy behaviour
of medical students being role models in society.