Wide ranges of causes are associated with obesity and overweight that varied from genetic to environmental factors. Increased food consumption and substantial changes in the food habits are the most important factors of obesity epidemic besides the poor diet among young people at recent years. Moreover, more than 33% of adults and 17% of children and teenagers are obese in united states. About 30% of children to more than 50% in college students use fast food daily. Fast food consumption has increasing’ trend due to convenience, costs, menu choices, flavor and taste. In addition, obesity prevalence increased dramatically worldwide as one of the most serious public health problem especially in childhood and adolescents in current century. The percentage of caloric intake from fast foods has increased fivefold over the past three decades among adolescents. Fast food consumption was associated with abdominal obesity based WHR, but did not related to general obesity based on BMI. The prevalence of fast food consumption and obesity/overweight in Iranian student is high. Fast food consumption was related to abdominal obesity as WHR (OR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.11, 2.26), but was not related to general obesity as BMI (OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.63, 1.52). According to our results, 72.4% (67.4% in females vs 80.7% in males) had at least one type of fast food consumption in the recent month including sandwich 44.4%, pizza 39.7%, and fried chicken 13.8%, The obesity prevalence based on BMI and WHR was 21.3% (95% CI: 19.4, 23.2%) and 33.2% (95% CI: 0.7, 35.7), respectively. Chi-square, independent t-test, and multivariate logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Data collection was conducted by a modified version of NELSON’s fast food questionnaire and anthropometric measures including Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) and Body Mass Index (BMI). In an analytical cross-sectional study, 300 students were selected randomly from two largest universities in Qom, center of Iran, studying in medical and basic sciences fields in 2015.

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of fast food consumption and to assess its association with abdominal and general obesity.

Nowadays, the prevalence of both fast food consumption and overweight/obesity has been increased.

Pronlems with quality fast food