Background: Admission to the university is a new stage of life for students that are generally associated with independence, social activities, and changes in lifestyle and behavior including changes in nutritional habits. Objectives: The study objective was to investigate the lifestyle and major dietary risk factors associated with the development of overweight and obesity among Najran University students, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: 300 undergraduate students attending Najran University completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographic, social, and cultural data, as well as information on eating habits, health and nutritional status. The questionnaire was labeled and coded by the researcher. The data obtained were subjected to analysis using Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Results: Analysis of the dietary habits of the students in the present sample revealed adoption of several undesired dietary habits. Two-thirds of them had between 1 and 2 weekly servings of fruit and vegetables, more than half choosing the less healthy food, fast food in particular, and about one-third only having a regular healthy breakfast on a daily basis. Almost two-thirds (62%) of the students have normal body mass index, almost 14.2% are underweight, 11% are overweight, and 12% are obese. 29% of the students engaged in regular exercise while another 25% stated that they never or hardly ever perform physical exercise. Most students, about 40% go to bed between 1 and 3 am, 47% sleep for <6 h/day, and more than 50% feel that they are not getting enough sleep although 24% always take a nap and 45% take a nap occasionally. Majority of the students did not smoke, with 17.2% of the students being regular smokers. These figures reflect the rather unhealthy dietary and lifestyle patterns of Najran University students in general. Conclusion: This study showed the difficulties that university students encounter, especially when they are away from the family, in following a healthy lifestyle and taking care of themselves from the nutritional point of view. The present data had shown relatively alarming prevalence of overweight/obesity, unhealthy dietary practices, and lifestyle behaviors that should be targeted and modified. This project provides valuable data that could be used by policymakers to address issues concerning students' health.

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Background: This cross-sectional hospital based study aimed at determining the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of diabetes among local people of Najran, Saudi Arabia.Methods: We aimed to investigate the levels of knowledge, attitude and practice among diabetic people in Najran area.Results: 10% of the participants scored >7, 28% scored >5 and 62% scored 5 and less in Knowledge questionnaire. None [0.00%] of the participants scored 7 or more out of the attitude questionnaire. 100% of the participants scored 5 and less out of 12. 100% of the participants scored >6 and 0% scored 12 or more in the practice questionnaire.Conclusions: Our study revealed that the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of diabetes in the area of Najran is very poor. We suggest that a structured educational program to be adopted by the health authorities in Saudi Arabia.

Introduction: Latent iron deficiency (LID), in which iron stores in the body are depleted without incidental anemia, poses a key diagnostic challenge. Reticulocyte hemoglobin content (Ret-Hb) is directly correlated with the functionally available iron for heme synthesis in erythroblasts. Consequently, Ret-Hb has been proposed as an efficient iron status marker. Aim: To assess the importance of Ret-Hb in detecting latent iron deficiency as well as its use in screening for iron deficiency anemia. Materials and Methods: A study involving 108 individuals was conducted at Najran University Hospital, 64 of whom had iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and 44 of whom had normal hemoglobin levels. All patients were subjected to complete blood count (CBC), reticulocyte percentage, Ret-Hb, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), and serum ferritin measurements. Results: A significant decrease in Ret-Hb level was observed in IDA patients compared to non-anemic individuals, with a cut-off value of 21.2 pg (a value below which indicates IDA). Conclusion: The measurement of Ret-Hb, in addition to CBC parameters and indices, provides an accessible predictive marker for both iron deficiency (ID) and IDA. Lowering the Ret-Hb cut-off could better allow for its use as a screening parameter for IDA.

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