Table 3.
Dietary intake for participants before and during Ramadan (n = 115).
| Variables/questions | Before Ramadan | During Ramadan | P-value* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calorie intake (kcal/day) | 1,482.9 ± 536.4 | 1,635.5 ± 635.1 | 0.01 |
| CHO (%) | 48.2 ± 9.1 | 48.1 ± 8.3 | 0.90 |
| Protein (%) | 16.3 ± 4.9 | 14.8 ± 4.6 | 0.01 |
| Fat (%) | 35.6 ± 9.2 | 37.1 ± 9.0 | 0.19 |
| CHO (g/day) | 180.8 ± 72.1 | 202.6 ± 88.7 | 0.001 |
| Protein (g/day) | 59.3 ± 23.0 | 59.1 ± 23.2 | 0.90 |
| Fat (g/day) | 65.4 ± 63.6 | 69.7 ± 32.3 | 0.46 |
| Number of meals eaten daily during the weekdays: | |||
| 1–2 meals/day | 56 (49.1) | 86 (75.4) | 0.00 |
| 3–4 meals/day | 55 (48.2) | 28 (24.6) | |
| ≥5 meals/day | 3 (2.6) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Number of meals eaten daily during the weekend: | |||
| 1–2 meals/day | 54 (48.2) | 69 (61.6) | 0.01 |
| 3–4 meals/day | 53 (47.3) | 43 (38.4) | |
| ≥5 meals/day | 5 (4.5) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Number of times eating meals outside the home (restaurant) in a week: | |||
| Never | 4 (3.5) | 30 (26.1) | 0.00 |
| 1–2 times a week | 54 (47.4) | 67 (58.2) | |
| 3–4 times a week | 39 (34.2) | 10 (8.7) | |
| ≥5 times a week | 17 (14.9) | 8 (7.0) | |
| Number of times eating fast food per week: | |||
| Never | 14 (12.4) | 44 (38.3) | 0.00 |
| 1–2 times a week | 65 (57.5) | 59 (51.3) | |
| 3–4 times a week | 25 (22.1) | 7 (6.1) | |
| ≥5 times a week | 9 (8.0) | 5 (4.3) | |
| Do you drink coffee during the week? | |||
| Yes | 98 (85.2) | 95 (82.6) | 0.59 |
| No | 17 (14.8) | 20 (17.4) | |
| If yes, what kind of coffee: | |||
| Arabic coffee | 68 (48.2) | 80 (57.6) | 0.43 |
| Turkish coffee | 25 (17.7) | 25 (18.0) | |
| American coffee | 22 (15.6) | 18 (12.9) | |
| French coffee | 12 (8.5) | 7 (5.0) | |
| Other | 14 (10.0) | 9 (6.5) | |
| Number of coffee cups daily consumption: | |||
| 1 cup/day | 61 (61.0) | 58 (61.0) | 0.69 |
| 2–3 cups/day | 29 (29.0) | 26 (27.4) | |
| 4–5 cups/day | 9 (9.0) | 9 (9.5) | |
| >5 cups/day | 1 (1.0) | 2 (2.1) | |
| Do you drink tea during the week? | |||
| Yes | 74 (64.3) | 59 (51.3) | 0.04 |
| No | 41 (35.7) | 56 (48.7) | |
| If yes, what is the number of teacups daily consumption: | |||
| 1 cup/day | 50 (67.5) | 38 (64.4) | 0.79 |
| 2–3 cups/day | 18 (24.3) | 18 (30.5) | |
| 4–5 cups/day | 3 (4.1) | 1 (1.7) | |
| >5 cups/day | 3 (4.1) | 2 (3.4) | |
Data are expressed as mean ± SD, or frequency and percentage N (%).
*
P-values were derived from Student paired t-test for continuous variables and Chi-square test/Fisher's Exact test (for small frequency) for categorical variables. Bold indicates significance. CHO, carbohydrate.