A Survey on the Dietary Habits of Rural Women in Fars Province, Iran

Abstract

<strong>Background:</strong> The relationship between nutritional pattern and non-communicable diseases such as coronary artery diseases, diabetes, and obesity has already been established. <strong>Objective:</strong> The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between nutritional pattern and education level of rural women in Iran. <strong>Materials and Methods:</strong> The present research was conducted on 209 randomly selected women who consented to take part in the study, and lived in kaftarak area of Shiraz during the past year. A questionnaire used in the study was prepared in collaboration with all residents of the department Community Medicine of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Chi-square and t-tests were used for statistical analysis. <strong>Results:</strong> Among participants, 45% were in the low educated group and 55% were literate. According to our findings, the participants used five major groups of food in appropriate amounts. Of these, 49% consumed fruits, 54.3%, vegetables, 69.5% protein, 57.6%, dairy products, and 5.7% bread and cereals. Our study showed a significant relationship between education level of the participants and the appropriate consumption of fruits, vegetables, protein and dairy products. However, there was no significant association between education level and consumption of fat and carbohydrates. The participants became overweight or obese when deriving most of their calories from carbohydrates. The mean BMI of the subjects was 26.68 ± 5.8 which was consistent with their inappropriate use of fats and carbohydrates. <strong>Conclusions:</strong> The women in rural areas became prone to overweight and obesity by inappropriate consumption of some foods.