Abstract— Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) represent a significant dietary source of add sugars in the Saudi population and a common practice among 75% of Saudis. The current study aimed to identify the consumption pattern of SSBs as daily and weekly among university students, to assess student’s knowledge about the actual calories in one can or bottle of SSBs associated with their consumption. Across sectional study conducted utilizing pretested self-administered questionnaire among 414 undergraduate students at King Faisal University (KFU) in Al-Ahssa, Saudi Arabia. About 40% of students reported consuming SSBs once daily, and almost one third of them (27.5%) two or more daily. The majority of them consumes soft drinks weekly (69.6%) then energy drinks (40.6%) and sport drinks was less popular drink (25.6%). Multivariate logistic regression analyses predicted greater SSBs consumption among students how had incorrect answer about regular SSBs kilocalories content (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.13 to 3.69), and less SSBs consumption among students in fourth year, class rank (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.42 to 1.23). SSBs consumption was prevalent among student's and knowing the kilocalories content of SSBs associated with a lower consumption of SSBs health education programs aim to reduce the consumption and increase students knowledge in order to have healthier choices are needed.
Index Terms— Sugar Sweetened Beverages, university students, knowledge, kilocalories.
Hala Hazam Al Otaibi is with the Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition. College of Agriculture and Food Science, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: hhalotaibi@kfu.edu.sa/ halaalotaibi5m@gmail.com).
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Cite: Hala Hazam Al Otaibi, " Sugar Sweetened Beverages Consumption Behavior and Knowledge among University Students in Saudi Arabia," Journal of Economics, Business and Management vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 173-176, 2017.