IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i12p4226-d371045.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Awareness and Knowledge Regarding the Consumption of Dietary Fiber and Its Relation to Self-Reported Health Status in an Adult Arab Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Author

Listed:
  • Hanan Alfawaz

    (Department of Food Science & Nutrition, College of Food Science & Agriculture, King Saud University, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
    Biochemistry Department, Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Nasiruddin Khan

    (Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, College of Applied and Health Sciences, A’ Sharqiyah University, Ibra 400, Oman
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Haya Alhuthayli

    (Department of Food Science & Nutrition, College of Food Science & Agriculture, King Saud University, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia)

  • Kaiser Wani

    (Biochemistry Department, Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Muneerah A. Aljumah

    (Almaarefa University, College of Medicine Medical Student, Riyadh 11597, Saudi Arabia)

  • Malak Nawaz Khan Khattak

    (Biochemistry Department, Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Saad A. Alghanim

    (Department of Health Administration, Health and Hospital Administration Program, College of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh 11352, Saudi Arabia)

  • Nasser M. Al-Daghri

    (Biochemistry Department, Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the awareness, knowledge, and habits regarding dietary fiber intake and to analyze its relationship with self-reported health status among Saudi adults. A survey-based study using face-to-face interview was designed, and 1363 apparently healthy adult Saudi males and females participated. Most participants were females (81.2%), aged 25 and above (87.2%), and were educated at least up to the secondary level of education (80.8%). The majority of the participants were aware of the role of fiber-rich foods in health conditions such as obesity (70.5%), cardiovascular diseases (68.9%), and regulation of blood sugar (68.9%), with females significantly having higher nutrition knowledge than males. A disconnect in translating this nutrition knowledge was observed particularly in food choices when eating out, where preferences for white bread (84.4%), fried potatoes (69.9%) and peeled fruits (60.6%) were significantly higher than preferences for cooked vegetables (29.6%) and brown bread (18.1%). The most common reason for this disconnect was due to perception that foods rich in dietary fibers were expensive (72.1%), have less health benefits (56.5%), were not readily available (51.6%), and participants’ disliking of the taste (52.8%). Participants in the highest quartile (Q4) for dietary fiber consumption reported a lower prevalence of constipation (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval of 0.40, 0.28–0.57, p < 0.01), high cholesterol (0.43, 0.27–0.68, p < 0.01) and obesity (0.67, 0.44–0.98, p = 0.03) than participants in the lowest quartile (Q1). Dietary fiber intake appears to be protective against constipation, high cholesterol and obesity in Saudi adults. However, a disparity observed between knowledge and attitude towards intake of dietary fibers could limit its health benefits. Further studies including adolescents should be conducted to impart knowledge on the emotional, cognitive and sensory factors related to food choices in order to minimize the gap between nutrition knowledge and the consumption of healthy high-fiber diets.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanan Alfawaz & Nasiruddin Khan & Haya Alhuthayli & Kaiser Wani & Muneerah A. Aljumah & Malak Nawaz Khan Khattak & Saad A. Alghanim & Nasser M. Al-Daghri, 2020. "Awareness and Knowledge Regarding the Consumption of Dietary Fiber and Its Relation to Self-Reported Health Status in an Adult Arab Population: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-18, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4226-:d:371045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4226/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4226/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Quan Zhou & Jiang Wu & Jie Tang & Jia-Ji Wang & Chu-Hong Lu & Pei-Xi Wang, 2015. "Beneficial Effect of Higher Dietary Fiber Intake on Plasma HDL-C and TC/HDL-C Ratio among Chinese Rural-to-Urban Migrant Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-13, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4226-:d:371045. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.