Nutrition and Food Consumption Patterns in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The objective of the present study is to describe and examine nutrition and food consumption patterns in KSA, namely to analyze and assess: the trends of per capita supply of major food groups (g/capita/day) from 1961-2007 and dietary energy supply, distribution by macronutrient and diversity of the food supply. Only secondary data were used. Saudi Arabia annual food balance sheet for the period form 1961-2007 which produced by FAO were used to drive the average per capita micronutrients (Dietary Energy Supply, protein and fats). Descriptive statistics were used as analytical tools. The results revealed that the overall supply of the different food groups in KSA is in continuous rise from 881 g/capita/day in the period of 1961/70 to more than double (1735 g/capita/day) in the period of 1981/90. The supply of vegetables showed a sharp drop from over 400 g/capita/day in the year 1990 down to less than 250 g in the year 2000. Fruits supply was slightly better than vegetable during the same period (1990-2007). On the other hand, meat group showed steady, positive increasing supply pattern during the period from 1990 to 2007. During these two decades, meat supply increased from about 26 g/capita/day in 1990 up to 139 g/capita/day in 2007 with a percent increase of 435%. Macronutrients are essentially of vegetal origin, amounted to 92% for energy, 81% for protein to 67% for lipid during the period of 1961/70. In the subsequent years fats from vegetal origin was more or less stabilized at 67-68% while fats from animal origin was at 33%. The share of protein, in the dietary supply has remained stable from 1961/70 to 2001/07. While the share of lipids showed an increase trend from just 15% in 1961/70 up to 1981/90 and stabilized at 25% up to the 2001/07 period. However, the share of carbohydrates in the dietary supply has decreased from 75% in 1961/70 to 64% in 2001/07. In the last five decades the per capita consumption of Sugar and sweetener, meat, animal fat, offal, egg and milk has increased, contrary the consumption of fruits and vegetable have fluctuating trends, such trends will not be continued if Saudi to adopt more healthy lifestyle.