Association of Overweight and Obesity with High Fast Food Consumption by Gulf Cooperation Council Medical Students.

Association of Overweight and Obesity with High Fast Food Consumption by Gulf Cooperation Council Medical Students. Ecol Food Nutr. 2019 May 07;:1-16 Authors: Ahmed J, Alnasir F, Jaradat A, Al Marabheh AJ, Hamadeh RR Abstract Fast food and sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption, adiposity, and physical activity behavior were determined through a cross-sectional study with 251 medical students from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Approximately 38% of the students were overweight or obese, and 56.2% consumed fast food in the past 24 h. Main reasons for consuming fast foods were lack of time to cook healthy food (51%), pleasant taste (26%) and the influence of family and friends (15%). Overweight status or obesity was more prevalent among males (50%), those having greater knowledge about calories in fast-food meals (51.6%), who checked fast food calories before eating (47.7%) or overestimated the amount of sugar in a soft drink (17.82 ± 26.59 spoons). Overweight or obese participants also performed more moderate physical activity (1.73 ± 2.08 days per week) compared to those with normal weight or underweight (p = <0.05). Fast food consumption can be curtailed by improving the availability of and access to healthier foods and implementing behavior change and regulatory interventions. PMID: 31062621 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Ecology of Food and Nutrition - Category: Nutrition Tags: Ecol Food Nutr Source Type: research