Bad nutritional habits prevalent in Egyptian society: Exploratory study

This research aims to improve the nutritional culture of Egyptians, in order to have a good awareness and behavior of food, which leads to abandon their bad nutritional habits and eliminate diseases which caused by malnutrition. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire composed of five parts was designed: sample characteristics, the level of severity of bad nutritional habits, a number of unhealthy dietary habits associated with Islamic and Christian religious events, ways to improve bad nutritional habits, food, health and economic benefits to improve bad nutritional habits. Then, the questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 152 lecturers and specialists in nutrition in Egypt. The study defined the dietary habit, the harmful effects of bad dietary habits, with a discussion on how to educate the Egyptians on the right food culture to achieve the nutritional and health benefits for them and support the sustainable development of the state. The results of this research indicated the following: Most diseases are caused by unhealthy nutrition and its bad nutritional habits with bad dietary habits, the good raw materials are converted into bad food and drink components which causes many diseases. This means a great economic loss. One of the best solutions for this problem is to replace bad nutritional habits with healthy food alternatives to suit the Egyptian taste. A comprehensive recommendation has been made to address this challenge: a strategic plan should be designed to eliminate the bad eating habits of Egyptians.