The training of the medical profession imposes harmful changes to lifestyle, which predisposes to weight gain. The aim of this study was to review the prevalence of overweight and obesity and possible causative factors in these rates in medical students (MS) and residents physicians (RP). We conducted a search of the databases online: PubMed / Medline (U.S. National Library of Medicine), Scielo and Lilacs with the keywords: "medical students" and "residents" associated with each of the terms: "body mass index (BMI)", "obesity", "overweight", "food intake", "sendentarism" and "sleep", and using the translation of these terms for the English language Thirty one studies were selected, where 25 were performed with EM, five with MR and one with both the populations. Sixteen studies indicated high prevalences of overweight and obesity (ranging between 15% and 83%). Regarding factors associated with weight gain, have stand out inadequate food intake. The excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep deprivation and sedentarism were widely identified. These results underscore the need to develop actions to minimize the negative effects of routine imposed by the process of medical training, especially those aspects related to excess weight.