The majority of respondents in our study consumed
vegetables and legumes frequently (81.8%). This finding
was high in comparison to previous studies from China
(47.9%) [17] and Bahrain (26.3%) [22]. However, one
study from Malaysia found that only 19% of university
students consumed vegetables more than three times
per week [11]. Our study also found that 48.5% of
respondents consumed fruits at least three times per
week. Similar finding was reported by Yahia et al.,(2008)
[14]. It was reported that low intake of fruits and vegetables
is associated with several chronic diseases at adulthood
[24]. Our study disclosed that majority of medical
students were aware of this health risk.
The typical university student diet is usually high in
fat [25]. Students often select fast food due to its palatability,
availability and convenience [14]. Surprisingly,
our study found that only 21.2% of respondents consumed
fast food often. Chin and Nasir, (2009) [5]
reported that only 4.7% of respondents visited fast food
restaurants frequently. In contrast, Moy et al., (2009)
[12] reported that 60-70% of primary school students
were fond of fast food. However, our study also found
that majority of respondents (73.5%) consumed fried
food at least twice a week or more, which was in line
with that found by a previous study [14].