Abstract

Background:Obesity is becoming a public health problem worldwide especially in the recent years, thus; overweight and obesity are increasingly being observed among the population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the eating habits in a sample of overweight and obese Iraqi subjects who attend Al-Kindy obesity therapy and research unit. Methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out on 111 subjects (34.2% male and 65.8% female), aged 39.6 ± 12.24 years, who were chosen randomly during February to May 2016. Subjects were asked to fill out a self-reported questionnaire that included questions on their eating, drinking and smoking habits. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 17.0) to determine overweight and obesity among subjects and to categorize eating habits. Results:This study showed that the majority of the subjects (44.1%) were of obese class 1. The prevalence of obesity was more common among females compared to males. Eating habits of the subjects showed that the majority (55.0%) reported taking three meals per day. We found that female subject rarely skip breakfast (49.3%) compared to male subjects (42.1%) in terms of breakfast intake. Vegetables and fruits intake was common among male (65.8%) compared to female (61.6%). Conclusion:We found statistically significant positive association between specific eating behaviors, namely: number of meals per day, eating fatty food and fast food with obesity and overweight in a sample of Iraqi subjects.

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