Background: Dietary habits established during medical training can influence students’ current health and future ability to promote healthy lifestyles among patients. Despite exposure to health-related education, medical students may experience a gap between nutrition awareness and actual dietary practices. This study assessed dietary habits and nutrition awareness among undergraduate medical students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among 100 undergraduate MBBS students, with 25 students recruited from each academic year. A structured questionnaire assessed breakfast consumption, fruit and vegetable intake, fast-food and sugary-drink consumption, water intake, meal skipping, physical activity, nutrition knowledge, calorie awareness, food-label reading, and attitudes towards nutrition education. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages. Nutrition knowledge was compared across academic years. Results: Although 83% of students recognised the importance of a balanced diet, only 35% rated their nutrition knowledge as good. Daily breakfast consumption was reported by 56% of students, while only 15% consumed at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Fast food and sugary drinks were consumed frequently by 13% and 20% of students, respectively. Only 28% reported drinking more than 2.5 litres of water daily, and 16% exercised at least five days per week. Knowledge of daily nutrient requirements and regular food-label reading were limited. Most students expressed interest in receiving additional nutrition education. Conclusion: Medical students demonstrated a substantial gap between nutrition awareness and healthy dietary practices, highlighting the need for practical and structured nutrition education and lifestyle-focused interventions during medical training. Keywords: Dietary habits, Nutrition awareness, Medical students, Healthy lifestyle, Nutrition education, Food choices

Background: Prosocial behaviour is an important attribute for students entering patient facing professions. Empathy, social desirability and social dependence may influence self-reported prosocial behaviour, yet data from Indian medical and nursing students remain limited. The aim is to estimate prosocial behaviour, empathy, social desirability and social dependence among first year and final year MBBS and BSc Nursing students and to assess the correlation of prosocial behaviour with these determinants. Materials and Methods: This descriptive analytical cross sectional study included students from a rural university in western Maharashtra. Participants completed a structured questionnaire that recorded demographic details, prosocial behaviour score, empathy score, social desirability and social dependence. Prosocial behaviour was measured using the Adult Prosocialness Behaviour Scale. Empathy was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy for medical students and the Jefferson Scale of Empathy for health professions students. Social desirability and social dependence were assessed using 5 point Likert scales. Group comparisons used Welch independent sample t tests. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used for association analyses. Results: The final analysis included 240 students. The mean age was 19.53 (2.11) years; 145 students were from MBBS and 95 were from BSc Nursing. The mean prosocial behaviour score was 65.60 (10.12) and the mean empathy score was 98.93 (13.90). BSc Nursing students had higher prosocial behaviour scores than MBBS students, 69.09 (9.61) versus 63.31 (9.82), p < 0.001. MBBS students had higher empathy scores than BSc Nursing students, 101.60 (13.28) versus 94.86 (13.91), p < 0.001. Prosocial behaviour correlated positively with empathy, r = 0.144, p = 0.026 and social desirability, r = 0.339, p < 0.001. Social dependence was not significantly correlated with prosocial behaviour. In adjusted analysis, empathy, social desirability and BSc Nursing faculty were independently associated with higher prosocial behaviour. Conclusion: Prosocial behaviour was higher among nursing students and was associated with empathy and social desirability. The association with social desirability indicates that self-reported prosociality in healthcare students should be interpreted with attention to response bias. Educational strategies that strengthen empathy and promote authentic professional helping behaviour may be useful in medical and nursing training. Keywords: prosocial behaviour; empathy; social desirability; social dependence; medical students; nursing students; healthcare education.