Nutritional Profile Of It Professionals In Ernakulam And Calicut And Their Stress Assessment

Sedentary life has become a prominent feature of the IT professionals. The nutritional adequacy is one of the key determinants of the quality of human resources. No data is available on the nutritional status and stress among people working in IT sectors. The main objectives of the present study were to assess the lifestyle and activity pattern, nutritional profile and stress among IT professionals. Purposive sampling was used to identify the participants—100 IT professionals from Ernakulam and Calicut districts of Kerala state. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect all the necessary information for the present study. Anthropometric measurements, bio-chemical estimations, and stress assessment were also done. The study showed that diet consumed by IT professionals was nutritionally inadequate to meet the RDA. Meal skipping and snacking were prevalent among IT professionals. BMI categorization of the subjects showed a significant increase in overweight (24%) and obesity (10%) among IT professionals. Blood pressure status of the professionals studied revealed that 40 percent of the subjects had different levels of hypertension. Stress assessment indicated the existence of moderate to very high levels of stress among IT professionals. It is evident that new strategies need to be implemented to improve overall wellbeing of the IT professionals.