Comparative study of dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle among the female medical and non-medical students in a Saudi Arabia University

Abstract

Introduction: Risk factors such as dietary habits and physical inactivity for non-communicable diseases are common and preventable. Thus the reduction in risk factors forms the epicentre of the management of non-communicable diseases. This study was carried out with an objective to compare dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle among the female health Sciences College and non-health college students in a Saudi Arabia University. Materials and Methods: The comparative cross-sectional study was carried out among 700 students belonging to both health sciences and non-health colleges at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from October 2019 to December 2019. A self-administrated questionnaire regarding their diet habits and physical activity was shared with the participants. The distributive statistics were analysed and discussed. Results: Among the total 700 students, 363 students were from the college of health sciences, and 337 were from Non-health College students. The majority of students did not have the recommended meals, with most of them eating only two meals in a day, 51.2% in health sciences college students and 48.1% in non-health college students. About 29.9% of the college students were physically inactive, wherein 28.4% were among the college of health sciences, and 31.5% were non-health, college students, respectively. The difference in the two groups regarding primary source of daily food, the quantity of daily fluid intake, number of hours of sedentary life and the activity after food intake was statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the eating and sedentary lifestyle habits in the two groups were almost the same, but the difference between the type of food, the quantity of fluid intake and time for physical activity did have significance statistically. These findings have to be further studied to understand the impact on health.