Body Mass Index of Medical University Students after the Coronavirus Pandemic

Introduction. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic is often spoken of in the past tense. However, health experts believe that despite the fact that the WHO state of emergency has been declared over, society is still experiencing the consequences of the global pandemic, and the term “post-pandemic” can often be found in the literature.

Objective of the study. Analysis of the body mass index of junior medical university students before and after the coronavirus pandemic.

Methods. The sample size was 200 students from 14 study groups. Standard descriptive statistics were used in the data analysis. Main results. The mean value (mathematical expectation) of the body mass index ± 95% confidence interval was (22.18±0.52) kg/m², standard deviation 3.76 kg/m², coefficient of variation – 16.96%, median – 21.62 kg/m², mode – 22.77 kg/m². Compared with the data for previous years, the proportion of underweight students (with BMI 16–18.5 kg/m², according to WHO) decreased and, conversely, the proportion of overweight students (BMI 25–30 kg/m²) increased. The proportion of respondents with obesity (BMI >30 kg/m²) increased from 1.89 to 3.00%. The percentage of respondents in other categories of body mass index remained virtually unchanged. The BMI trend line for the 2016–2021 data. can be represented by a linear function with a negative slope, while taking into account the 2024/25 academic year, the trend line has a positive slope. It is proven that the distribution of the body mass index of students is lognormal, and its parameters are established. In 2025, the body weight of the respondents was on average 66.12 kg, height was 171.84 cm (in 2021 it was 61.73 kg and 169.96 cm, respectively).

Conclusion. It is suggested that the identified increase in the body mass index in the post-pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic periodmay be due to social, psychophysiological and other consequences of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Perhaps the psycho-emotional stress that arose in society during the pandemic is projected at the present time, manifesting itself, among other things, in changes in eating behavior.

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