ASSESSMENT OF FOOD ENVIRONMENT OF MANSOURA UNIVERSITY | ||||
| Mansoura Nursing Journal | ||||
| Article 8, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2016, Page 118-126 PDF (333.03 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mnj.2016.149309 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
Eman S. Mohamed  ; Amel Ahmed; Samia Abd El- Mouty
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| Community Health Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Unhealthy diets are linked with numerous chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, certain cancers, overweight and obesity. The rapidly increasing fast food outlets has created an alarming situation to practice unhealthy dietary habits. Food environment is the place where food is purchased and consumed and considered out of control of individuals. It influences access to food and believed to contribute to obesity. Understanding and assessing the food environment would provide guidance for actions that promote dietary habits Aim: To assess food environment of Mansoura University. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among (17) food courts within Mansoura University, Egypt, from March to June 2014. Results: All food courts were fast food restaurants. All of food court's managers serve energy dense foods and beverages, few of them serve fresh fruits juices ,tea and coffee with skimmed or low fat milk, and none of them serve skimmed or low fat foods products and special diet for hypertensive or diabetic patients . Majority of them promote and place less healthy options of food and beverage where it is easily accessible to students. None of them increase price of energy dense foods or offer discount and subsides on presented healthy items. In addition, none of them display signage or menu that are labeled with colored code or contained nutrition information about offered food and beverage. Conclusion: The study concluded that all food court's managers at the university campus lacked several basic practices to encourage more healthful dietary habits. Recommendations: It was recommended to develop a strategy to create a healthier food environment that encourage eating a more optimal diet . | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Unhealthy diets; Food environment; Fast food outlets | ||||
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