scholarly journals Maternal Knowledge, Attitude and Practices toward Free Sugar and the Associations with Free Sugar Intake in Children

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 4403
Author(s):  
Walaa Abdullah Mumena

Research addressing factors related to free sugar (FS) consumption among children in Saudi Arabia is lacking. We aimed to evaluate maternal knowledge, attitude, and practices toward FS and the associations with children’s intake of FS. This cross-sectional study included 424 Saudi children aged 6–12 years and their mothers. Data related to maternal knowledge, attitude, and practices were collected using an online survey. Data concerning children’s habitual intake of FS were collected through phone interviews using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Limited knowledge on FS was observed among mothers of children [median 7.00 [interquartile range 6.00–8.00] out of 11.0. Maternal knowledge was not correlated with maternal attitude or practices toward FS. Maternal knowledge towards FS did not predict children’s intake of FS, whereas maternal attitude and practices toward limiting the consumption of FS predicted lower intake of FS among Saudi children, particularly the FS consumed from solid food sources (B: −5.73 [95% confidence interval (CI): −9.79 to −1.66]) and (B: −6.85 [95% CI: −11.9 to −1.80]), respectively. Despite the limited knowledge pertaining to FS among mothers in Saudi Arabia, they were making efforts to limit their children’s consumption of FS.

Author(s):  
Abdallah Y. Naser ◽  
Eman Zmaily Dahmash ◽  
Zahra Khalil Alsairafi ◽  
Hassan Alwafi ◽  
Hamad Alyami ◽  
...  

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of the general public in the Middle Eastern countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted between the 19th of March and the 6th of April 2020 in three Middle Eastern countries (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait) to explore the knowledge and practices of the Middle Eastern population regarding COVID-19. A previously developed questionnaire was adapted and used for this study. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of COVID-19 knowledge. Results: A total of 1208 participants (members of the public) participated from the three countries (Jordan = 389, Saudi Arabia = 433, and Kuwait = 386). The majority of participants (n = 810, 67.2%) were females aged 30 to 49 years (n = 501, 41.5%). Participants had moderate overall COVID-19 knowledge, with a mean (SD) score of 7.93 (±1.72) out of 12 (66.1%). Participants had better knowledge about disease prevention and control (83.0%), whereas the lowest sub-scale scores were for questions about disease transmission routes (43.3%). High education level was an important predictor of greater COVID-19 knowledge scores (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Further public education is needed to address the relatively low level of education regarding the transmission of COVID-19 in the Middle Eastern countries. Policymakers are recommended to develop informative COVID-19 related campaigns that specifically target young people (university students), unemployed individuals, and those with lower levels of education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Reem Al Madani ◽  
Shahzeb H. Ansari

INTRODUCTION: The dispersion of severe COVID-19 has already occupied on pandemic extents, disturbing over 100 nations in a matter of months. A worldwide response to formulate health systems global is imperious. MATERIALS &amp; METHODS: This is a cross sectional study conducted among the Saudi general public using an online survey. Saudis (male and female) of all ages willing to participate in this study were requested to fill up the survey. An online questionnaire was designed using Google Forms with questions related to personal and demographic information followed by COVID-10 related questions. RESULTS: A total of N=1026 subjects participated in this study and responded by completing the online survey. They were divided into groups including gender, age, education and profession type. As far as gender was concerned, 243 (23.7%) males and 783 (76.3%) females took part. CONCLUSION: Overall knowledge of Saudis regarding COVID-19 is above average.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
SAUD Alsahali

BACKGROUND : Digital health technologies and applications are rapidly advancing and have gained attention in recent years. It is expected to have more roles and functions to transform the healthcare system in this era of digital consumers and services. However, limited research is available regarding delivering digital health education and training in pharmacy education and the pharmacy students’ perspectives on digital health. OBJECTIVE To assess pharmacy interns’ awareness of digital health applications in Saudi Arabia and their views regarding the coverage of digital health in the education of pharmacists. We will also assess the interns’ perceptions and beliefs about the concepts, benefits, and implementation of digital health in the practice settings METHODS A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted among pharmacy interns at Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. An invitation with the link to the online survey was sent to all interns registered at the College during the period of January to March 2021 RESULTS A total of 68 out of 77 interns registered in the internship year participated in the study, giving a response rate of 88.31%. The mean total score for pharmacy interns’ awareness of digital health applications in Saudi Arabia was 5.66 ± 1.74 (the maximum attainable score = 7). The awareness with different applications ranged from 97% for the Tawakkalna app to 64.7% for the Ministry of Health 937 call center. The mean total score for attitude and beliefs toward concepts and benefits of telehealth and telemedicine applications was 58.25 ± 10.44 (Maximum attainable score = 75). In this regard, 83.8% of the interns believed that telehealth could enhance the quality of care, 72% believed that it could enable pharmacists to accomplish tasks more quickly, and 70.6% believed that it could help effectively provide patient counseling, and 69.1% believed it could improve patients’ adherence to therapy. In this study, 40.6% believed that the current coverage of telehealth and telemedicine in the curriculum was average, while only 17.6% believed it was high/very high coverage. Moreover, only 38.2% attended additional educational activities related to digital health. Consequently, the majority (63.2%) were of the opinion that there is a high/very high need to educate and train pharmacists in the field of digital health CONCLUSIONS Overall, the interns showed good awareness of the common digital health applications in Saudi Arabia. In addition, majority of the interns had positive perceptions and beliefs towards the concepts, benefits, and implementation of digital health. However, the findings showed there is still further scope for improvement in some areas. Moreover, most interns indicated that there is a need for more education and training in the field of digital health and pharmacy informatics. Consequently, early exposure to content related to digital health and pharmacy informatics is an important step to help in the wide use and application of these technologies in the graduates’ future careers and practice CLINICALTRIAL Ethical approval was obtained from Health Research Ethics Committee at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia (reference number 20-06-12).


Author(s):  
Mohammed J. Almalki

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant influence on education systems, educational environments, teachers, and students. This study aims to assess the satisfaction with, adherence to, and perspectives toward COVID-19 preventive measures among public health students in Jazan, Saudi Arabia in order to enhance their campus experience. This study utilized a cross-sectional methodology. Data were collected using convenience sampling between 2–19 November 2020; this was accomplished using an online survey administered via Google Forms. The final sample consisted of 200 participants. More than half of the participants (55.0%) were dissatisfied with the preventive measures that had been applied on campus, while 19.0% had a neutral outlook. Interestingly, female participants showed a higher level of dissatisfaction toward the preventive measures (70.6%) than male participants (43.5%). The ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between the degree of satisfaction with the COVID-19 preventive measures and the participant’s gender and education level. Male students were more likely to be satisfied with the preventive measures (p < 0.029, OR = 2.199) than female students. In addition, final year students were 4.1 times more likely to be satisfied with the COVID-19 preventive measures (p < 0.004, OR = 0.242) than Year 2 students, and 6.2 times more likely to be satisfied (p ≤ 0.001, OR = 0.162) than Year 3 students. Efforts are needed to improve the students’ satisfaction with COVID-19 preventive measures. Steps are also required to ensure that the procedures and actions introduced by the college extend to all students. In addition, further research is needed to recognize and understand the participants’ experiences after moving to the new buildings, receiving COVID-19 vaccines, and returning to on campus study.


Author(s):  
Ghada Talat Alhothali ◽  
Noha M. Almoraie ◽  
Israa M. Shatwan ◽  
Najlaa M. Aljefree

Climate change poses a global threat to public health. This study investigated the understanding of, and concern over, climate change in Saudi Arabia and examined the associations with sociodemographic characteristics and dietary choices. This cross-sectional study consisted of 280 participants recruited via an online survey. Of the study participants, 45% demonstrated a sufficient understanding of climate change, and 56% were highly concerned about climate change. Male sex, medium-high monthly income, high education, and governmental employees were determinants of sufficient understanding of and great concern over climate change. Participants who exhibited a high understanding of climate change score demonstrated significantly higher consumption of vegetables (3.47 ± 0.98) and vegetable oils (3.26 ± 1.07) than participants with a low understanding score (3.31 ± 0.96 and 3.00 ± 1.01, respectively) (p ≤ 0.01). Additionally, participants with higher concern of climate change scores exhibited lower consumption of red meat (p = 0.0001), poultry (p = 0.003), margarine (p = 0.02), and soy products (p = 0.04). The study revealed a poor understanding of, but great concern over, climate change. The intake of non-climate-friendly food was typically higher than that of climate-friendly food. These findings are critical for developing strategies to enhance awareness of climate change and encourage people to consume climate-friendly food to mitigate climate change and improve public health.


Author(s):  
Hamad S Alyami ◽  
Abdallah Y Naser ◽  
Eman Zmaily Dahmash ◽  
Mohammed H Alyami ◽  
Osama T Al Meanazel ◽  
...  

Background: COVID 19 outbreak in 2020 was associated with a high rate of depression and anxiety among individuals in the affected countries. The aim of this study is to explore the influence of the COVID 19 epidemic on the psychological distress of residents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross sectional study using an online survey was conducted in Saudi Arabia between 27th of March and 27th of April 2020. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ 9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD 7) were used to assess depression and anxiety. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of depression and anxiety. Results: The prevalence of depression and anxiety among the entire study participants was 9.4% and 7.3%, respectively. Non-Saudi residents, aged 50 years and above, divorced, retired, university students, and those with income (2000 to 10,000 RS) were at higher risk of developing depression. Saudi individuals, married, unemployed, and those with high income (> 10,000 RS) were at higher risk of developing anxiety. Conclusions: There is a wide range of the Saudi residents who are at higher risk of mental illness during COVID 19 pandemic. Policymakers and mental healthcare providers are advised to provide continuous monitoring of the psychological consequences during this pandemic, and provide mental support.


Author(s):  
Nehad J. Ahmed ◽  
Abdulrahman S. Alrawili ◽  
Faisal Z. Alkhawaja

Aim: There are a few studies about the populations' knowledge and perceptions on personalized medicine in Saudi Arabia until now. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness on personalized medicine amongst health care specialists and university students in health colleges in Saudi Arabia. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study that include a survey targeting health care specialists. The survey translated to Arabic and after validation, it was converted to an online survey using google forms. Results: About 52.34% of the participants have heard about different terms regarding personalized medicine (personalized medicine, healthcare reform, individualized care and pharmacogenomics). Most of the health care specialists in the present study said that they have poor knowledge about personalized medicine (68.75%). Most of the participants in the present study were interested to learn about personalized medicine and showed a positive attitude about it. Conclusion: The present study found that health care specialists had a poor knowledge about personalized medicine but they are interested to learn more about this field.  Therefore, more training and awareness programs about personalized medicine are needed to facilitate its introduction in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, more focus on this field should be introduced into the health colleges’ curricula.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 943
Author(s):  
Mohammed J. Almalki ◽  
Amani A. Alotaibi ◽  
Salman H. Alabdali ◽  
Ayman A. Zaalah ◽  
Mohsen W. Maghfuri ◽  
...  

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a significant threat to the efforts that have been taken to combat the pandemic. This study assessed the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine among university students in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional online survey using a Google Form was conducted between 2 April and 23 April 2021. A snowball technique was used to recruit participants for this study. The final sample consisted of 407 participants. More than one-third of the participants (36.1%) had received the COVID-19 vaccine, and 13.3% had registered to receive the vaccine. Of the participants who were not yet vaccinated (n = 260), 90.4% indicated that they would like to be vaccinated when given the opportunity. Of the unvaccinated participants, 82.3% trusted the COVID-19 vaccines that had been provided in Saudi Arabia. The most reported reasons for the participants’ acceptance to receive the COVID-19 vaccine included preventive purposes (95.8%), a belief in the safety of the vaccines (84.3%), and the availability of public awareness information regarding the vaccines (77.3%). A small portion of participants (6.1%) were refusing to receive the vaccine due to the potential long-term side effects (92.0%) and expedited vaccine trials (80.0%). Acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine was strongly associated with participants who regularly received the flu vaccine (p < 0.05). All other demographic variables were not statistically associated with the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine. In conclusion, it would be appropriate for universities to launch peer programs to urge reluctant students to receive the vaccine voluntarily. In terms of further research, it is valuable to follow up with unvaccinated participants to investigate if they received the vaccine since the data were collected, and their reasons for doing so. This research would reveal changes toward vaccine acceptability over time and any related determinants. Future research should consider students from non-Arabic speaking backgrounds.


Author(s):  
Adel Alaraifi

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of online social media (OSM) assimilation on individuals’ levels of depression in Saudi Arabia. Over the last decade, Saudi Arabia has witnessed an exponential increase in the number of OSM users. Previous studies suggest that OSM usage can be used as a predictor of many behavioral outcomes for individuals. Nevertheless, the literature on the assimilation and risk of OSM within Saudi Arabia is still very limited, especially in terms of linking OSM to depression. This cross-sectional study adopts a quantitative approach using an online survey of 626 users to measure how OSM assimilation affects levels of depression among users in Saudi Arabia. The analysis was conducted using partial least squares (PLS) regression. The result indicates that OSM usage has a significant negative impact on depression.


Author(s):  
Sailaja Rao ◽  
Saad Alqahtani ◽  
Aziza Hamoud ◽  
Rawan Hakami ◽  
Omnia Dkhn ◽  
...  

Aims: The present study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and preventive practices for fevers in children. Study Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the parents in a poly health clinic of Jazan. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted for a period of 4 months in Jazan region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methodology: The information was collected from the respondents about their knowledge, attitude and practice towards fevers using a pre-structured questionnaire. Data collection took place via online survey for about 4 months. A total number of 318 respondents were participated and statistical data analysis was analyzed for the same. Results: Majority of the participants were mothers (84%, bp<0.001) with their education at university level. A temperature of > 37.0 °C was defined as fever by 83.3% of participants. Most of the parents use a pharmacy or approach a doctor for immediate and quick action in the treatment of fevers in children. The parents were giving importance to visit a doctor/pharmacist for better understanding about the medications to be followed and maximum number of participants (n = 200, bp<0.001) found to be significant) opted Paracetemol in the form of syrup as a best medication for their children. Chi-squared test was used to determine the significance of the knowledge, attitude and practice in the management of fevers. Conclusion: Hence, from the findings, it can be concluded that there was a significant improvement in controlling the fevers in children.   GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT  Flow chart elaborates the knowledge, attitude and practice of fevers in children among parents in Jazan region, Saudi Arabia


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