Meal taking behaviors at work and their associated factors among Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences staff, UPM 2017

Food is important for thoughts, productivity, and health. Workers spend half of their waking hours in weekdays at work and this long time can contribute to their health positively or negatively. Meal taking behaviors at workplaces are important to be assessed as this may lead to determination of the current situation and to future interventions improving working conditions and nutrition of workers. This study was conducted to determine the meal taking behaviors status at work of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Universiti Putra Malaysia staff (FMHS, UPM). This is a cross-sectional study conducted among 577 staff at the FMHS, UPM. Proportionate simple random sampling was used to select a representative sample of 160 that were assessed for their meal taking behaviors and the factors influencing these behaviors. A pretested questionnaire and weight and height scales were used to obtain the required information. Out of the selected 160 staff, a number of 137 responded in this study giving an 85.6% response rate. The determined proportion of poor and good meal taking behavior in this study was 46% and 54%, respectively. Female gender and non-smokers were significantly associated with good meal taking behaviors with P<0.001 and 0.044, correspondingly. Similarly was home prepared and canteen foods for breakfast and lunch meal sources significantly associated with good meal taking behaviors with P=0.007 and P=0.049 for breakfast and lunch meal sources, respectively. The high proportion of poor meal taking behaviors shall draw attention toward the need for health education especially among males, conducting stop smoking campaign, and encouraging canteen use and enhancement of its nutritional variation and content.

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