Department of Nutrition & Food Sciences, College of Home Economy, King Abdulaziz University, P O Box 53100, Jeddah 21583, Saudi Arabia.
Nutr J. 2011 Aug 10;10:84. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-10-84.
During Ramadan fast, approximately one billion Muslims abstain from food and fluid between the hours of sunrise to sunset, and usually eat a large meal after sunset and another meal before sunrise. Many studies reported good health-related outcomes of fasting including weight loss. The objective of this study is to identify the local pattern of expenditure on food consumption, dietary habits during Ramadan and correlate that to self-reported weight gain after Ramadan in a group of families in Jeddah, Western Saudi Arabia.
A Cross-section study using a pre-designed questionnaire to identify the local pattern of expenditure on food consumption, dietary habits during Ramadan and correlate that to self-reported weight gain after Ramadan in a representative cohort of Saudis living in Jeddah. It was piloted on 173 nutrition students and administered by them to their families.
A total of 173 Saudi families were interviewed. One out of 5 indicated that their expenditure increases during Ramadan. Approximately two thirds of the respondents (59.5%) reported weight gain after Ramadan. When asked about their perspective explanations for that: 40% attributed that to types of foods being rich in fat and carbohydrates particularly date in (Sunset meal) 97.7% and rice in (Dawn meal) 80.9%. One third (31.2%) indicated that it was due to relative lack of physical exercise in Ramadan and 14.5% referred that to increase in food consumption. Two thirds (65.2%) of those with increased expenditure reported weight gain.
Surprisingly weight gain and not weight loss was reported after Ramadan by Saudis which indicates timely needed life-style and dietary modification programs for a population which reports one of the highest prevalence rates of diabetes.
在斋月期间，大约有 10 亿穆斯林在日出到日落之间禁食水，通常在日落后吃一顿大餐，在日出前再吃一顿。许多研究报告了斋戒对健康有益的结果，包括体重减轻。本研究的目的是确定在沙特阿拉伯西部吉达的一组家庭中，斋月期间食物消费的当地模式、饮食习惯，并将其与斋月后自我报告的体重增加相关联。
采用横断面研究，使用预先设计的问卷来确定食物消费的当地模式、斋月期间的饮食习惯，并将其与沙特人在吉达的代表性队列中斋月后自我报告的体重增加相关联。它在 173 名营养学生中进行了试点，并由他们向其家人发放。
共采访了 173 个沙特家庭。五分之一的家庭表示他们在斋月期间的支出增加。大约三分之二的受访者（59.5%）报告斋月后体重增加。当被问及他们对此的看法时：40%的人认为这是由于食物种类富含脂肪和碳水化合物，特别是日落餐中的枣（97.7%）和早餐中的米饭（80.9%）。三分之一（31.2%）的人表示，这是由于斋月期间相对缺乏体力活动，14.5%的人认为这是由于食物摄入量增加。支出增加的受访者中有三分之二（65.2%）报告体重增加。
令人惊讶的是，沙特人在斋月后报告体重增加而不是体重减轻，这表明需要及时为报告糖尿病发病率最高的人群之一制定生活方式和饮食调整计划。
