Dietary Habits of Saudi Medical Students at University of Dammam

Objective: To evaluate the dietary habits and life style of medical students. Design: Methods: This is a cross sectional study as self-reported questionnaire for the male and female medical students at College of Medicine University of Dammam, eastern province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, comparing their habits and life style according to their gender and to their academic levels; 1st, 3rd and 6th year. Results: 562 students participated in the study with response rate of 91%, average age: 20.2776± 2.06175), males students were 333 (59.25%) and female students were 229 (40.75%) corresponding to the actual male to female ratio in this medical school. The majority of the students (91.3%) were consuming fast foods, majority are males (85%) do it 3 times or more per week, only 8.7% denied eating fast food with no significant difference between the three academic levels. Majority of students are aware of the benefits of the vegetables and fruits and the disadvantage of the soft drinks yet most of them consume a lot of soft drinks and less of vegetables and fruits. Physical exercise was not done regularly in 65% of the male medical students and 80% of the female with almost similar percentage in all the three levels. Conclusion: Contrary to the expectations and regardless of studying in medical college, our medical students; both male and females at different academic levels are having major bad dietary habits and life style that is comparable to the general population in the kingdom.