Published on: Sep 27, 2021

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Doctors-Diet-Fitness-Survey: High in Fats, Low in Protein

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Living the life of a medico is not easy. It requires dedication, competence and a lifestyle with long work hours and overnight shifts. Given this, developing and maintaining a healthy well-balanced diet and lifestyle can be very difficult to achieve.

In their busy schedule, are doctors meeting their recommended daily allowance of various micronutrients and macronutrients in their diet? Are they exercising enough?

To shed light on this, Team Fitterfly conducted a Wellness Survey of doctors on their Fitterfly Metabolic Health App. The data was analysed on Fitterfly’s Nutrition Practice Management Software – Ntuitive.

Here are the shocking survey results – 

1. The total number of doctors surveyed: 1000

2. Age group

It was divided into three categories:

1. 25 to 40 years – 40%

2. 40 to 60 years – 47%

3. Above 60 years – 13%

1. Gender:

    • 868 Males
    • 132 Females

2. Data collected

  • Anthropometry (human body measurements)
  • Medical history, e.g. history of diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses
  1. 71% of the doctors had no health condition.
  2. 6% had diabetes.
  3. 10% had hypertension.
  4. 5% had both diabetes and hypertension.
  5. Other conditions such as dyslipidemia, GI dysfunction, asthma, PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), arthritis, migraine, hypothyroidism etc. were also prevalent amongst the doctors surveyed.
  • Physical activity
  • 24-hour dietary recall

3. BMI category

The graph shows that 61% of the doctors were in the overweight and obesity grade 1 & grade 2 category.

BMI Category

4. Physical activity

Based on the detailed professional profiling call and information given by the doctors, the findings of the survey show that only 22% of the doctors were physically active.

Physical Activity

5. Type of exercise

Among all the forms of exercise, the most preferred form of exercise was walking.

Physical Work

6. Calorie consumption (in kcal)

According to ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), an Indian adult weighing 60 kg is recommended to consume 2300 kcal.However, there are no recommendations for calories consumption with respect to BMI variation in Indian adults.

Based on the 1-day dietary recall, the total calories consumed by the doctors surveyed were divided into 3 sub-categories:

  • Under – less than 1400 kcal per day
  • Normal -1400-1800 kcal per day
  • Excess – more than 1800 kcal per day

Calorie Consumption

7. Protein consumption

According to ICMR, an Indian adult should consume 0.8-1gm of protein per kg of body weight. Alternatively, protein consumption should be 12-15% of the total calories consumed.The below graphs shows the percentage of doctors with 5-10%, 11-15% and >15% protein intake of the total calories consumed.

67% of the doctors were consuming really low protein as evidenced by less than 10% of their daily calories from protein. Only 7% of doctors had more than 15% of calories from proteins as recommended.

Protein Consumption

8. Carbohydrate (carbs) consumption

According to ICMR, carbohydrate consumption should be 50-60% of the total calories consumed for Indian adults.The graph shows the percentage of doctors with 25-50%, 50-60% and more than 60% carbs intake of the total calories consumed.

Carbohydrate (carbs) consumption

9. Fat consumption

According to ICMR, ideal fat consumption should be 25% of the total calories consumed for Indian adults.The data gathered was divided into 3 sub-categories – less than 15%, 15-25% and more than 25%.

An alarmingly high percentage of doctors ~ 77% were consuming more than the recommended amounts of fat.

Fat Consumption

10. Micronutrient consumption

The below bar graph showing the percentage of doctors whose micronutrient intake was 0-25% (pink), 25-50% (green), 50-75% (red) and >75% (yellow) of the RDA.E.g. 63% of the doctors consumed 25-50% of the recommended Iron. On the other hand, just 3% of the doctors consumed 50-75% of the recommended zinc in their diet.

Micronutrient consumption

Here are the key findings of this survey based on 1-day dietary recall:

  1. More than 60% of the doctors surveyed, had a BMI in the overweight and obese category.
  2. The majority of the doctors surveyed had an imbalance of macronutrients – protein, carbs and fats consumed.
  3. The micronutrient analysis findings showed less than 10% of the doctors surveyed met 75% of the recommended value of various vitamins and minerals like zinc, omega 3 and iron.

The results of the survey are alarming. Doctors are the torch-bearers when it comes to health, fitness and nutrition. Is it a lack of time or easy access to processed food that deters our healthcare providers from practising what they preach?

When it comes to health, nobody knows better than doctors what is right or wrong. Our healthcare providers endorse a healthy lifestyle with a well-balanced diet for overall well-being. They recommend, it is essential to calculate the nutritional value of everything we eat.

But how to do that? Is there a technology or a simple tool that can calculate our daily calorie intake, carbs, fats, etc.?

As a solution to this ﹘ designed, tested and approved by doctors, Team Fitterfly has developed a user-friendly app for both IOS and Andriod users.

You can use your smartphone to log your full-day meal intake in less than 10 mins with Fitterfly Metabolic Health App. It has a vast database covering almost all Indian and international recipes. It also tracks your daily physical activity and water intake.

So why wait? Download the app now!

- By Fitterfly Health-Team
No more postponing exercise plans.

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