“The Association between Nursing Student’s BMI and Menstrual Irregularity” –A Correlational Study

Abstract

The body mass index may mirror your state of health. The current aim of this study is to correlate BMI and menstrual irregularities among nursing students at a selected nursing college in Wayanad. The objectives of the study were (1) to find the baseline BMI of the nursing students. (2) To find menstrual irregularities among nursing students. (3) To find the correlation between BMI and menstrual irregularities among nursing students. With a sample size of 80 nursing students, a non-experimental research methodology was used for this study. The data are gathered using a convenient sampling strategy. Two tools, designated Tool-I and Tool-II, make up the study's toolkit. The "Tool-I" consists of Section A, which contains demographic information, and Section B, which contains information on BMI calculation using both previously gathered data (student health records) and newly acquired data. Menstrual irregularity-structured questionnaires make up Tool II. The institutional ethical review board gave its seal of approval, and a subject matter expert in the related field verified the study's validity. Information from the sample was gathered with the permission of the subjects. After the data was analyzed, it was shown that 68.75% of the students had a normal BMI, 10% were pre-obesity, and 21.25% were underweight. BMI and menstrual irregularity also had a significant correlation (r = 0.6543).