Abstract

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EVALUATION OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF ARABS LIVING IN UK

Hiba Ibrahim Sabri


The purpose of this study is to evaluate the nutritional status of Arabs adults living in UK. The Mediterranean countries included in this study are the states of the Arab league. The Arab league members include 22 countries and these are;Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Food frequency questionnaire developed by Dehghan et al 2005 for use in the Middle East was used in this study to collect information about the food items consumed by the participants. A nutrient database was developed specifically for this study. The nutrient contents of food items in the questionnaire were extracted from table 19 of the United States department of agriculture food database and food composition tables for use in the Middle East 2nd edition. A total 200 questionnaire had been distributed, 114 questionnaire were received. Several factors had been evaluated; age, gender, smoking, education level, length of stay in UK, body mass index. Results showed that intake of vegetables, cereals, pulses, olive oil, nuts and sweets by women were higher than men. While intake of fruits, meat/chicken, fish and eggs were higher in men than women. Participants who lived longer in UK and second generation seemed to show higher total energy, carbohydrates, protein and fat daily consumption compared to those who lived in UK for a shorter period of time. Smokers showed higher energy, carbohydrates and fat consumption compared to non smokers and former smokers but not protein. Older participants showed higher vegetables, fish, eggs, and nuts consumption than younger participants,while younger participants consumed more sweets and cereals than older participants. Participants with primary education consumed the highest amount of vegetables, meat, chicken, pulses and eggs but they consumed the lowest amount of olive oil and sweets. Obese participants reported the lowest amount of protein, fat, carbohydrates and total daily calories consumed. The general conclusion of this study indicate that adult Arabs living in UK maintained the main elements of Mediterranean diet (eating vegetables, fruits, olive oil). However, the number of participants in this research was small, so further research is needed where a large number of participants is included to enable researchers to compare participants and factors and be able to generalize results more accurately from a large sample of the population.