How Can Dietary Habits Effects on Dysmenorrhea among Health Track Students – A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether dietary habits can affect the dysmenorrhea and irregular menstruation. Design: A cross sectional study. Setting: A total of 655 female students from Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU). A non-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to assess their food habits. Participants: Female students in health track in IAU with no health problem, pregnant or even lactating and age from 17 – 26 years were included. Results: The severity of dysmenorrhea was significantly associated with the less intake of seafood (P= 0.007) and low consumption of nuts (P= 0.02). High sweet consumption contributed with pain increased significantly during the menstrual days (P= 0.002), as well as elevates the severity of dysmenorrhea (P= 0.04). Drinking less coffee contributes significantly to the undesired effect of dysmenorrhea (P= 0.04). While there were no significant association between dairy products intake and vegetables consumption with the severity of dysmenorrhea as well as irregular menstruation. Conclusion: Regular consumption of seafood and nuts can alleviate the severity of dysmenorrhea. Eating too many sweets increased the severity of dysmenorrhea among 17 to 26 year old female.