Mohamed Badreldin Abdelrhman, Mahfouz Mohamed Salih, Badr Mohamed Farouk
Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2020 Feb 28;13:211-221. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S236953. eCollection 2020.
University students might experience numerous sources of stress in their daily lives. Previous research has found that stress affects food selection patterns, but the effect might vary by country and sex. No previous study conducted in Saudi Arabia has assessed the association between stress and dietary habits among university students. Thus, this study aimed to examine the association between perceived stress and food selection patterns among undergraduate students by sex at King Saud University (KSU).
A cross-sectional study of 400 students attending the College of Applied Medical Sciences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was conducted. The self-administered questionnaire that was used consisted of three sections: sociodemographic, food frequency questionnaire, and Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale.
Approximately (59.0%) of the participants reported suffering from some level of stress, with more females (64.5%) experiencing stress than males (54.0%). The univariate analysis showed that under stress, more females (68.0%) reported eating more than usual than males (49.0%), while the percentage of respondents that reported eating less than usual was higher for females (23.0%) than that for males (31.0%). The McNemar test indicated that under stress, there was an increased preference for salty flavors, which was not associated with sex. Significantly more females (82.0%) than males (64.5%) reported preferring sweets under stress. More males reported preferring bitter and savory flavors than females. Under stress, females preferred homemade food, while males preferred takeout foods. More females (68.0%) reported losing control and overeating than males (49.0%). A logistic regression showed that for female students, perceived stress was associated with frequent consumption of sweets, cake/cookies, snacks and beverages and less frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables. For males, the consumption of fast food and meat was significantly positively associated with perceived stress.
Perceived stress led to unhealthy changes in eating patterns in both sexes, as evidenced by reports of an increased preference for sweets, snacks and cake/cookies among females and an increased preference for fast food and meat among males. These results may be potentially important targets for interventions for stress-related food consumption.
大学生在日常生活中可能会经历多种压力源。先前的研究发现，压力会影响食物选择模式，但这种影响可能因国家和性别而异。此前在沙特阿拉伯尚未有研究评估大学生压力与饮食习惯之间的关联。因此，本研究旨在考察沙特国王大学（KSU）本科生中感知压力与食物选择模式之间按性别划分的关联。
对沙特阿拉伯利雅得应用医学科学学院的400名学生进行了一项横断面研究。所使用的自填式问卷由三个部分组成：社会人口统计学、食物频率问卷和科恩感知压力量表。
约59.0%的参与者报告遭受某种程度的压力，经历压力的女性（64.5%）多于男性（54.0%）。单因素分析显示，在压力状态下，报告进食量比平时多的女性（68.0%）多于男性（49.0%），而报告进食量比平时少的女性（23.0%）比例高于男性（31.0%）。麦克尼马尔检验表明，在压力状态下，对咸味的偏好增加，且与性别无关。报告在压力状态下更喜欢甜食的女性（82.0%）显著多于男性（64.5%）。报告更喜欢苦味和咸味的男性多于女性。在压力状态下，女性更喜欢自制食物，而男性更喜欢外卖食品。报告失去控制并暴饮暴食的女性（68.0%）多于男性（49.0%）。逻辑回归显示，对于女学生，感知压力与频繁食用甜食、蛋糕/饼干、零食和饮料以及较少食用水果和蔬菜有关。对于男性，快餐和肉类的消费与感知压力显著正相关。
感知压力导致男女饮食模式出现不健康变化，表现为女性对甜食、零食和蛋糕/饼干的偏好增加，男性对快餐和肉类的偏好增加。这些结果可能是与压力相关食物消费干预的潜在重要目标。
