Shatha Rabiah¹ and Mohammed AlGhamdi²*

¹Health Policy and Management Department, School of Health Sciences and Practice and Institute of Public Health, New York Medical College, New York, United State of America
²General Directorate of National Health Economics and Policies, National Health Care Strategy Department, Saudi Health Council, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

*Corresponding Author: Mohammed AlGhamdi, General Directorate of National Health Economics and Policies, National Health Care Strategy Department, Saudi Health Council, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Received: February 28, 2023; Published: March 13, 2023

Abstract

Background: The relationship between the diet of an individual and health outcomes has been emphasized over the years. Chronic health problems particularly have gained popularity due to its association with bad eating habits. Over the years, studies conducted across the globe have linked processed foods and sugary foods to chronic illnesses such as coronary artery disease, dyslipidemia, cancer, hypertension, and obesity. Conversely, the Mediterranean diet is linked to reducing chronic illnesses and is encouraged as a healthier nutrition model across the world.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the level of adherence to Mediterranean diet and to identify the association between Mediterranean diet adherence and presence of chronic diseases. Also, finding the proportion of the adult population in Saudi Arabia who have embraced the Mediterranean diet as a strategy to prevent chronic diseases and promote their wellbeing.

Methods: This study was conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Individuals were aged 15-65 years and above who visited the hospital during the study period were included in the study. However, those below 15 years were excluded.

Results: A total of 100 participants in this study, the discussion of this study will focus on finding the association between the consumption of the Mediterranean diet and the reduction of chronic illnesses among the study population.

Conclusion: The Mediterranean diet plays a vital role in the prevention of chronic illnesses across the globe. It has been proven capable of eradicating the onset symptoms of chronic illnesses like overweight and obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and type 2 diabetes respectively.

Keywords: Mediterranean Diet; Saudi Arabia; Diet; Chronic Illnesses

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Citation

Citation: Shatha Rabiah and Mohammed AlGhamdi. “A Cross-Sectional Study on the Mediterranean Diet and its Association with Chronic Diseases on General Population in Saudi Arabia”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 7.4 (2023): 84-91.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Shatha Rabiah and Mohammed AlGhamdi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.