ABSTRACT Background and objectives: Abdominal fat is associated with a greater risk of obesity-related morbidity than overall adiposity. Waist circumference has been shown to be the best simple measure of both intra-abdominal fat mass and total fat. The aim of this study was to measure the waist circumference of the medical college students as an indicator of the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to correlate it with the students’ ages and college grades. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried using sample of 500 students of Hawler Medical University in Erbil city during the period from 1st of May through to 31st of July 2008. The WHO stepwise approach had been followed for measuring the waist circumferences of the participants. Results: Five hundred students were studied. The mean (± SD) age of the subjects was 21.39 ± 2.84 years ranging from 17 to 35 years. Regardless of gender, the prevalence of overweight was 16.1% and obesity was 5.1%. Prevalence of overweight (21.8%) and obesity (6.1%) among female students was higher than overweight (10.3%) and obesity (4.1%) among male students. Overweight (50%) and obesity (16.7%) were more common among female students in the age group of ≥ 26 than the other age groups and the other gender as well. There was significant correlation between prevalence of overweight and obesity with the students’ grades (P=0.027) and genders (PConclusions: This study concluded that the prevalence of abdominal obesity is higher in female students than male students increasing with the age of the students. Healthy eating behaviors and adequate physical activity for prevention of obesity among college students had been recommended. Key words: obesity, college students.
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