Association between Dietary Patterns and Chronic Disease among Female Students, prince Sattam University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.

Dietary patterns reflect food and nutrient consumption and may be an indicator to predict disease risk. The presence of nutrients in required quantities is a necessary part of the daily diet to maintain a healthy food consumption pattern and play a vital role in health balance determinants. The aim of this study is to investigate the behavior of dietary pattern, nutritional status associated with physical activity and related health diseases in university population. This cross-sectional study involved 368 female undergraduate university students. The data, gathered a pretested, organized self-administered questionnaires related to sociodemographic, anthropometric, eating attitudes, physical activity and health related issues. The study results showed that the mean age of 22.5 ± 2.4 years of student’s response to the survey. More than half of the respondents 201 (54.4%) had skipped their breakfast. Majority of the students 324 (88.0%) ate snacks and juice every day. Moreover, two-third of the students 263 (71.4%) had normal BMI, whereas 56 (15.2%) were underweight, and 49 (13.4%) were overweight. Over half of the respondents 203 (55.1%) had high dietary diversity whereas, 67 (18.2%) had moderate diet and 98 (26.6%) had low dietary diversity. One fourth of the respondents 87 (23.6%) performed physical activity every day. Related to health issues most of the students 95 (28%) had anemia and 52 (14.8%) of them were facing problems with hormonal imbalance. In conclusion, food consumption is associated with BMI that is dependent on physical activity and so, nutrition related disorders have become a health issue in the world. Therefore, it has become imperative to encourage students to improve their eating behavior, engage in physical activity and incorporate as part of the regular nutrition education program by the institution.