BARRIERS TO HEALTHY EATING HABITS AMONG HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS OF HITEC-IMS AND HIT HOSPITAL TAXILA
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Keywords
Healthcare workers, dietary habits, barriers, weight, behavior
Abstract
Background: Unhealthy eating practices are harmful for the wellness of health personnel. Healthy foods are essential for well-being of individuals.
Objectives: The study aims to assess the eating behaviors of healthcare providers, identify the barriers to healthy eating behavior, and determine the association of dietary habits with age, gender, job nature, and job position.
Methodology: Cross-Sectional study was conducted at HITEC- IMS and HIT Hospital Taxila from January to August 2022 on 120 health care providers selected by Convenience sampling. Sample size was calculated by using the Open Epi calculator with a confidence interval of 95%, and anticipated frequency of 50%. Data was collected by a structured Proforma and analyzed by SPSS version 25. The association of dietary behavior with gender, and job position was assessed by Chi Square test and correlation was applied to see the association of age with dietary habits Results: Out of 120 health care providers; doctors, nurses and paramedics were 84.2%, 5% and 10.8% respectively. Males were 46.7% while females were 53.3%. The mean age of participants was 33.5 + 13.6 years. 9.2% were smokers. Only 25% were having healthy eating behavior. Reliance on the cafeteria (49%), lack of options (40.8%), no sufficient breaks (31%) and work stress (30.5%) were identified as major barriers to healthy eating habits. No significant associations of dietary habits with gender (p- 0.3), age (p-0.6), profession (p- 0.1) and job specialty (p- 0.4) was found.
Conclusion: Although health care providers are well aware of the role of healthy eating behavior in maintain good health but still fail to adopt healthy eating behavior due to certain barriers that should be addressed.
References
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Anwar Bibi
Associate Professor Community Medicine Department, HITEC-IMS Taxila
Sidra Farooq
Assistant Professor Community Medicine Department, HITEC-IMS Taxila
Nadia Nisar
Associate Professor Community Medicine Department, NUST School of Health Sciences, NUST University Islamabad
Sarah Saleem
Public Health Specialist Alkhidmat Razi Hospital CBR Town Islamabad
Hafsah Khalid
House Officer at HIT Hospital Taxila
Iraj Fatima
House Officer at HIT Hospital Taxila
Robina Mushtaq
Professor of Community Medicine Department, Wah Medical College Wah Cantt
Aashi Ahmed
Professor and Head of Department of Community Medicne , HITEC-IMS Taxila