Background: Adequate nutrition plays a crucial role in human physical and mental growth. Proper diet and lifestyle has a constructive impact on the cognitive development and academic enactment of students. Objective: A comprehensive dietary assessment to describe dietary practices and evaluate students' nutritional level in relation to students' cognitive functioning by Mini-Mental State Examination. A cross-sectional study was conducted by using a food frequency questionnaire, Mini mental state examination and anthropometric measurements in department of Physiology, Lahore Medical & Dental College from May, 2022 to August, 2022. First year MBBS students (n=119) who fulfilled the inclusion- exclusion criteria were included in this study. All the participants were informed with the details of study procedure before taking written consent. Results: Among the study participants, 61.3% (n=73) were females and 38.7% (n=46) were males. 53.8 % students were hostilities where as 46.2%l were day scholar. Low protein intake was observed in majority of the students with very low consumption of legumes, eggs and red meat (mutton/beef). Mild cognitive impairment with MMSE score below 24 was found in 5.9% students while 94.1% students have no signs of cognitive impairment with MMSE score of 24-30. 32.9% of the students were underweight, 18.4%were overweight and 11% were obese. Conclusion: A comprehensive approach is required to monitor the nutrition of medical students as a way to recuperate health status and prevent nutritional deficiency diseases along with cognitive defects. There is an imperative need to encourage healthy food selections and lifestyle among medical students.

Nutrition, Cognitive functions, Medical Students