Objectives: To determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of Lebanese married women toward food safety and to assess the correlation of these factors with socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: The evaluation forms of the “Five Keys to Safer Food Manual” of the WHO (World Health Organization) were administered to 516 Lebanese married women living in Beirut and Mount Lebanon between December 2017 and May 2018. The questionnaire is divided into three sections: food safety knowledge (11 questions), attitude (10 questions), and practices (10 questions). A score was calculated for each section with one point for every correct answer. Findings: The mean of knowledge score was 8.23 ± 1.59 over 11, the attitude score was 7.43 ± 1.82 over 10, and the behavior score was 6.69 ± 2.32 over 10. The relationship between the knowledge score and other scores was weak (with behavior score r = 0.222 and attitude score r = 0.260; p-value <0.005). Knowledge and attitude scores were higher than practices score. Food safety knowledge, attitude and practices did not differ with age nor the number of kids. Years of marriage and employment only influenced practices. Frequency of cooking influenced knowledge and behavior. The main food safety problems were found in separating raw from cooked food, cooking food to the right temperature and keeping food at safe temperature whether hot-holding or thawing. Conclusions: Knowledge of food safety measures might not reflect good food safety practices. Therefore, there is a need to highlight the importance of safe practices and prevention of foodborne illnesses.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of food insecurity among Lebanese University (Hadath Campus) students and examine its association with demographic characteristics, academic performance, body mass index (BMI), and household monthly income. Methods: A total of 755 participants that studied at Hadath Campus of Lebanese University were recruited for this study. The prevalence of food insecurity was assessed using a validated scale of 7 items: Arabic Family Food Security Scale (AFFSS). Findings: Responses to the AFFSS indicated that 8.9% of students were food insecure, among which 7.5% and 1.4% were respectively moderately and severely food insecure. Also, 91.1% were food secure. Food security status was significantly associated with age (p=0.001), family monthly allowance (p<0.001), weight (p=0.023), faculty (p=0.009) and BMI (p=0.04). Conclusion: The prevalence of food-insecure students was approximately 9% in the sample. Further studies are needed to measure food insecurity among Lebanese University students across the rest of the campuses in order to have enough evidence regarding the food insecurity level. Moreover, policies and programs must address food insecurity levels among students to ensure that all the resources are available for these students to succeed.
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