Fasting in the month of Ramadan is a religious, cultural, and social ritual for Muslims. The benefits it is supposed to provide to people who practice it are often impaired by unhealthy lifestyles including diet. The present research aimed to study risky eating behaviors and the variation in food expenditure of the Moroccan population during Ramadan. This study was conducted in 2018 in 340 households in urban and rural localities in the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra region of Morocco. Information on eating habits was collected by a nutritional survey using the method of dietary history; household food expenditure and sociodemographic characteristics were collected by a questionnaire. The average age of the population is 40 ± 14 years; the majority (40%) has a middle standard of living, and the average food expenditure increased by 50% during Ramadan. The food survey showed a significant increase in energy intake ( p < 0.001 ), carbohydrate intake ( p < 0.001 ), sucrose intake ( p = 0.02 ), sodium intake ( p < 0.001 ), and calcium intake ( p < 0.001 ) and a significant decrease in protein intake ( p < 0.001 ) and lipid intake ( p < 0.001 ), with no significant change in saturated fatty acid intake ( p = 0.86 ) during Ramadan. These results show that some dietary behaviors adopted during Ramadan could promote the development or worsening of overweight and chronic diseases. These data reveal the importance of nutritional education adapted to this sacred month.

Background. The use of validated and reliable methods and instruments is necessary to study dietary practices and nutritional status due to their direct impacts on population health. Objective. The aim is the validity and reliability of the conceptual and methodological framework of research on factors associated with dietary practices and nutritional status (FADPNS), carried out on adult population of the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra region in Morocco. Material and methods. First, we developed a conceptual and methodological framework for research on FADPNS, which aimed to study dietary practices, nutritional status, and the factors associated with them in an adult Moroccan population. Then, we studied the validity and reliability of this framework in three phases. Phase 1 focused on the validation of the content of the conceptual and methodological framework, Phase 2 focused on the study by an expert committee of the internal consistency validity (ICV) of the questionnaires used in this research , and Phase 3 consisted of the study of the reliability of the items questionnaires by the test of Cronbach Alpha. Results. Thus, the validated content of the conceptual framework of research on FADPNS includes socio-demographic, socio-economic, and socio-cultural characteristics; health status; physical activity, places of food purchase; food preparation, taking of meals, family commensality; social representations of good dietary practices; food consumption; and nutritional status. The questionnaires used in this research received an ICV score of 85%. The reliability test of the questionnaires showed a Cronbach Alpha value ≥ 0.5, which turned out to vary from "moderate" to "excellent". Conclusion. This work enabled the validation of the conceptual framework and the methodology of the study of the factors associated with dietary practices and nutritional status in the RSK region.

Food is a multidimensional science that has appeal among other social representations of food practices. This study aimed to characterize and identify the determinants of eating practices according to the social representations of a population in the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra (RSK) region of Morocco. Data concerning socio-demographic characteristics were collected using a questionnaire. The social representations of dietary practices were obtained by characterizing three dietary practices. The main results showed that the high proportion of the study population is over 34 years old, is female, is married, and resides in the urban area. The most characteristic of good dietary practices chosen by the majority of the population was palatability, the factor chosen as the least characteristic of good dietary practices was traditional preparations. Among the studied factors, age, gender, higher level of education, professional occupation, "married" marital status, and involvement in purchasing and food preparation within the household are the determinants of certain representations.

<abstract><sec> <title>Background</title> <p>Maternal malnutrition is a global concern whose consequences for newborns are intrauterine growth retardation, fetal hypotrophy and exposure to risks of pathologies in adulthood.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Objective</title> <p>The aim of this study was to assess and compare the diet quality and nutritional status of pregnant women at the time of childbirth while assessing their newborn's weight at birth.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Materials and methods</title> <p>The study involved 400 parturient, divided into two groups of 200 each, the controls who have just given birth to newborns of normal weight and the cases who have just given birth to babies of low birth weight (LBW). Information on food intakes and dietary habits were collected using questionnaires and anthropometric parameters were measured.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Results</title> <p>The mean body mass index (BMI) of the cases was 25.93 ± 2.64 kg/m² vs. 28.25 ± 2.75 kg/m² in the controls. The dietary diversity and variety scores were higher in the controls than in the cases. Indeed means were 6.87 ± 1.30 vs. 8.88 ± 1.35 food groups for the diversity scores and 11.77 ± 1.57 vs. 15.90 ± 2.09 food items for the variety scores in the cases and the controls respectively. The average daily intakes of folates, calcium, iron and zinc were lower than the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) for both groups. The daily calcium intake represents only 1/5th of the RDI for the cases and 1/3 for the controls. Average dietary iron intake was insufficient at only 49% of the daily requirement for cases vs. 66.88% for controls while folates accounts for 64.33% of the RDA for the cases.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Data from this study shows that the diets of women who have given birth to low birth weight infants are poorly diversified, poorly varied, and poor in certain nutrients essential for a successful pregnancy and childbirth.</p> </sec></abstract>

Background. The construction of the consumer’s identity is dependent on how they prepare their meals. Objective. Study the cooking methods, frequency, and duration of meal preparation in Moroccan households as well as the associated factors. Materials and methods. This work is a part of a study with a validated conceptual and methodological framework that was conducted in 507 households in the region of Rabat-Salé-Kenitra in Morocco. The characteristics of the population and data on the cooking methods, frequency, and duration of meal preparation were collected by a survey. Associations between variables were studied by univariate logistic regression with a significance level of p<0.05. Results. The majority of the population was aged between 35 and 65 years (76%) and lived in urban areas (70%). The univariate analysis showed that the urban area was a factor that hindered stewing (p=0.009), while the work status (p=0.04) and the marital status “Married” (p=0.04) were favorable factors; the household size (p=0.02) is a factor favoring steaming method; urban area (p=0.04), work status (p 0.03), nuclear family type (p<0.001), and household size (p=0.02) are factors hindering the use of oven cooking; urban area (p=0.02) and higher education level (p=0.04) are factors favoring the use of fried food, age category [20-34] years (p=0.04), higher education level (p=0.01) and work status (p=0.01) were factors that favored the use of grilling; nuclear family type, (p=0.04) and household size (p=0.03) were factors that hindered the preparation of breakfast; urban area (p=0.03) and Arab ethnicity (p=0.04) are factors hindering snack preparation; urban area (p<0.001) is a factor favoring dinner preparation; household size (p=0.01) and use of stewing at least four times a week (p=0.002) are factors hindering meal preparation time, while use of baking (p=0.01) is a favoring factor. Conclusion. The study results point towards the implementation of a nutritional education strategy based on combining habits, preferences, and good cooking practices.