The effect of dietary behaviors on the nutritional status and associated factors of Yemeni students in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has undergone a significant transformation in eating habits and the native diets have been replaced with Western diets. The present study investigated the effect of dietary behavior on nutritional status and associated factors of Yemeni students studying in Saudi Arabia. The socioeconomic characteristics, food habits, daily food intake, and anthropometric measurement (BMI) were used to assess the nutrition status of 240 adults (120 males and 120 females) Yemni students with the ages ranging from 18 to 35 years studying at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. The majority of students were married, had higher education level and reasonable income and eat three meals a day. Higher number of female studnets skipped breakfast compared to male students. Energy intake, i.e., vitamins and minerals was lower than the dietary recommended intake (DRI) for both male and female students. The majority of males were overweight compared to females. Most of the socioeconomic characteristics and food habits had positive or negative correlation with body mass index (BMI). Overall, the results revealed that the majority of Yemeni male students had poor eating habits compared to females, resulting in obesity. High income, number of meals per day, breakfast consumption, restaurant meals, consumption of soft drinks, sweets, and potato chips were identified as factors associated with the nutritional status of male and female students included in the study.