Awareness On Intermittent Fasting Plan Among College Students – A Survey
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Introduction
In Recent Years, People Worldwide Have Developed An Increased Popularity For Weight Loss Programs, Diet Plans
And Weight Maintenance Programs With Little Research Done On The Effectiveness Of Those Programs. Meanwhile,
Obesity Has Been Increasing In Prevalence Due To Many Social Determinants Such As Easy Access To Various Fast
Foods, And Lack Of Physical Activity . Obesity Is A Worldwide Epidemic Due To The Availability Of Many
Unhealthy Food Options And Limited Physical Exercise. Obesity Is A Public Health Problem That Has Raised
Concern Worldwide. Obesity Can Be Defined As A Condition Of Abnormal Or Excess Fat Accumulation In Adipose
Tissue, To The Extent That Health May Be Impaired (Ulijaszek, 2003). According To The World Health Organization
(Who), There Will Be About 2.3 Billion Overweight People Aged 15 Years And Above, And Over 700 Million Obese
People Worldwide In 2015 (Lerouge Et Al., 2020). Although A Few Developed Countries Such As The United
Kingdom And Germany Experienced A Drop In The Prevalence Rate Of Obesity In The Past Decade, The Prevalence
Of Obesity Continues To Rise In Many Parts Of The World, Especially In The Asia Pacific Region (Yoshiike, Kaneda
And Takimoto, 2002; Chew Et Al., 2018).
There Is A Wealth Of Evidence To Show That Excess Weight Is An Important Risk Factor In The Development Of
Illness Like Cardiovascular Diseases , Diabetes Mellitus , Respiratory Diseases (Murugan And Sharma, 2008),
Chronic Kidney Diseases (Ting Et Al., 2009), Musculoskeletal Disorders (Wearing Et Al., 2006; Medina, 2016),
Gastrointestinal And Hepatic Disorders (Tsai Et Al., 2004; Batty Et Al., 2008), Lower Physical Functioning
Performance (Woo, Leung And Kwok, 2007) And Psychological Problems. The Etiology Of Obesity Is Multifactorial,
Involving Complex Interactions Among The Genetic Background, Hormones And Different Social And
Environmental Factors, Such As Sedentary Lifestyle And Unhealthy Dietary Habits (Ulijaszek, 2003).
Fasting, Called “The Next Big Weight Loss Fad”, Has Long Been Integral To Many Religious And Ethnic Cultures
(Golbidi Et Al., 2017). Intermittent Fasting (If) Is A Dietary Strategy In Which Periods Of Normal Food And Drink
Consumption Are Punctuated By Periods Of Energy Restriction Or Fasting. The Objective Of If Is To Create A Net
Reduction In Energy Intake That Causes It To Fall Below Energy Expenditure, Thereby Creating A State Of Negative
Energy Balance And Inducing Weight Loss. Intermittent Fasting (If) Has Many Forms; The Basic Premise Involves
Taking Periodic Breaks From Eating. Common Forms Of If Include Fasting For Up To 24 Hours Once Or Twice A
Week Food Intake For The Remaining Days, Which Is Known As Periodic Prolonged Fasting (Pf) Or Intermittent
Calorie Restriction (Icr) (Fairburn, 2008); Time-Restricted Feeding (Trf), Such As Eating For Only 8 Hours Then
Fasting For The Other 16 Hours Of The Day; And Alternate-Day Fasting (Adf). Most Adf Programs Involve
Alternating Feast And Fast Days With Some Protocols Allowing No Caloric Intake On Fast Days.
In 2007, Varady And Hellerstein Reviewed Alternate Day Fasting Studies In Animals And Concluded That This
Fasting Regimen Was As Effective As Simple Caloric Restriction In Decreasing Fasting Insulin And Glucose
Concentration. Alternate Day Fasting In Animals Also Reduced Total Plasma Cholesterol And Triglyceride (Tg)
Concentrations, And Had Beneficial Effects On Cancer Risk Factors Such As Cell Proliferation. Rothschild Et Al
Recently Reviewed The Animal Literature On Time-Restricted Feeding. Twelve Studies Were Identified With Daily
Fasting Intervals Ranging From 12 To 20 Hours, In Numerous Mouse Models, With Variability In Coordination With
Light/Dark Phases . In Spite Of The Heterogeneity Of These Studies, The Authors Concluded That In Mice, Time-
Restricted Feeding Was Associated With Reductions In Body Weight, Total Cholesterol, Tgs, Glucose, Insulin,
Interleukin-6 (Il-6), And Tnf-Α; As Well As Improvements In Insulin Sensitivity. It Is Notable That These Health
Outcomes Occurred Despite Variable Effects Of Intermittent Fasting On Weight Loss (Varady Et Al., 2009; Collier,
2013).Previously Our Team Has A Rich Experience In Working On Various Research Projects Across Multiple
Disciplines The (Somasundaram Et Al., 2015; Hafeez And Others, 2016; Krishnan Et Al., 2018)(Choudhari And
Thenmozhi, 2016; Dhinesh Et Al., 2016; Gurunathan And Shanmugaavel, 2016; Sneha And Others, 2016;
Govindaraju And Gurunathan, 2017; Kumar And Rahman, 2017; Felicita And Sumathi Felicita, 2018; Saravanan Et
Al., 2018; Vijayakumar Jain Et Al., 2019; Wu Et Al., 2019; Palati Et Al., 2020; Paramasivam, Vijayashree
Priyadharsini And Raghunandhakumar, 2020). The Aim Of Our Study Is To Create Awareness On Intermittent Fasting
Plans Among College Students .
Materials And Method