RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: This work investigated the impacts of food habits and lifestyle on the prevalence of overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) among health sciences students (HSS) at Taif University, KSA. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 228 HSS in a university setting using a food frequency questionnaire. Body mass index (BMI) was used to assess weight gain, and waist circumference (W_C) was employed for the assessment of abdominal adiposity. RESULTS: The prevalences of OW and OB were 25.9% and 10.9%, respectively, with an overall prevalence of 36.8%. All demographic variables had an insignificant (P > 0.05) effect on W_C. There were significant links between gender, academic year and discipline and BMI (P < 0.05). Smoking, stress, duration of TV viewing, daylight and night sleep had an effect on BMI and W_C but were statistically insignificant (P > 0.05). Breakfast, light meals, eating with a family, fast food, and regular and diet soft drinks had insignificant impacts on BMI (P > 0.05). A considerable relationship was observed between consumption of liver and BMI (P < 0.05), while meat, egg, milk, fruit and vegetable, and grain intake had no significant effect on BMI (P > 0.05). All varieties of foods had no significant impact on W_C (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of OW and OB was 36.8%. The participants' gender, academic year, discipline, and liver intake had a significant impact on BMI. All other tested variables showed a nonsignificant relationship with W_C.
