Open AccessFood Safety Knowledge and Self-reported Practices among Saudi Women
Author(s) -
Leila Arfaoui,
Mortada Maisa,
Ghandourah Haneen,
Wejdan Alghafari
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
current nutrition and food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2212-3881
pISSN - 1573-4013
DOI - 10.2174/1573401317666210322115237
Subject(s) - personal hygiene , medicine , hygiene , purchasing , food safety , descriptive statistics , food hygiene , environmental health , family medicine , marketing , statistics , mathematics , pathology , business
Background: Foodborne diseases due to improper food handling in home kitchens areamong the most significant public health challenges worldwide. Objective: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate food safety knowledge and selfreportedpractices among Saudi women. Methods: A total of 1490 women, aged between 18 and 60 years participated in this online survey.Collected and cured data were analyzed using descriptive statistics via the SPSS software.Chi-square (X 2 ) test was performed to identify associations between variables. A p-value lessthan 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Participants showed an overall knowledge score of 16.53±2.8/23 points (72%). About4.5%, 57.5% and 38% had low, intermediate and good knowledge scores, respectively. Womenhad higher scores of knowledge in personal hygiene (5.2±0.8/6 points) and purchasing and storage(5.8±1.2/8 points) compared to food preparation and cooking (4.5±1.8/8 points). The overallpractice score was 35.50±5.53/50 points (71%). About 7%, 52% and 41% of the participantsexhibited low, intermediate and good practices scores, respectively. Participants’ practice scoresof personal hygiene, utensils and equipment, purchasing and storage, and preparation and cookingwere 11.10±2.33/15, 6.38±1.47/8, 8.72±1.84/12 and 9.30±2.08/15, respectively. Among theparticipants’ characteristics, women aged 26 years and older, those having marriage experienceand those with children had significantly higher food safety knowledge (p<0.001) than the young,single and women without children. Moreover, women with higher levels of education and thoseemployed in health-related professions showed significantly higher knowledge and practicescores than their counterparts (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study reported an intermediate overall food safety knowledge and practicesamong most adult Saudi women. Therefore, further targeted public education programs focusingmainly on food preparation and cooking are recommended to enhance women’s food safetyknowledge and practices and thereby improve overall public health.