The Effect of Saudi Consumers’ Awareness and Attitude Towards Saudi Food and Drugs Authority’ Food Policies on Body Mass Index

Suzan H. Tami¹* and Mohammed Al-Mahish²

¹Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.

²Department of Agribusiness and Consumer Science, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.

Corresponding Author Email: stami@kfu.edu.sa

This paper aimed to examine the effect of Saudi consumers’ awareness and attitude towards Saudi Food and Drugs Authority’s (SFDA) food policies on their average Body Mass Index (BMI), and whether consumers’ socio-economic variables impacted their BMI. In this cross-sectional study, 584 Saudi adults completed an electronic questionnaire. The results of a two-sample t-test showed that there was a significant difference in the mean of BMI among consumers who followed SFDA news and regulations and those who did not. Also, the findings revealed that the BMI mean of consumers who cooperated with SFDA by reporting food safety violations was significantly different compared to consumers who did not cooperate with SFDA. The results of the binary logit model indicated that several socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, income) impacted consumers’ BMI. The findings of this study may assist nutrition educators and policy makers to plan programs to improve health-related behaviors.

BMI; Consumers; Food Policy; Obesity Prevention; Public Awareness; Public Support; SFDA

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