Awareness among Saudi Arabian parents of the relationship between Monosodium Glutamate intake and increasing Body Weight
1Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, 2014, Skaka, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
2Pharmaceutics Department, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Skaka 2014, Saudi Arabia.
3Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Skaka 2014, Saudi Arabia.
4Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beni-Suef University, Alshaheed Shehata Ahmed Hegazy Street, 62574 Beni - Suef, Egypt.
5Pharmacognosy Department, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka, Aljouf, 72341, KSA.
6Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11371, Egypt.
7Department of Biology, College of Science, Jouf University, Skaka 2014, Saudi Arabia.
*Corresponding Author E-mail: dibyapanda1974@gmail.com
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is an amino acid which is widely used and approved as a flavor enhancer for a broad range of food. Glutamate receptor can be stimulated excessively to cause diabetes and cancer. MSG is associated with metabolic syndrome in humans. The main purpose of this study is to find a possible correlation between monosodium glutamate and signs of overweight among young children in Saudi Arabia. An electronic cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Participants consisted of 572 Saudi parents of children aged between 6-18 years. Data analysis was done using t-test and chi-square test. Overweight children population was found to be relatively small in Saudi Arabia compared to other gulf countries such as United Arab Emirates (UAE) (40%). There is a statistically significant relationship between average weight and a preference for fast food at home. It is strongly recommended to reduce the amount of MSG taken in fast foods and snacks and some types of sweets for the prevention from associated chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, and others. Moreover, increasing public awareness about obesity and its main causes by putting posters in public places. Announcing detailed information on the causes of obesity in local magazines. Doing the study in other age/gender categories like women and elderly.
KEYWORDS: Awareness, Monosodium glutamate, obesity, Children, Saudi Arabia.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is an amino acid which is usually linked to glutamate receptor, and is used and approved as a flavor enhancer for a broad range of foods. Glutamate receptor triggers many different responses, and can be stimulated excessively, causing diabetes and cancer.1 MSG is associated with metabolic syndrome in humans.2 The addition of it to the diet has been shown to increase subjects’ sense of taste and stimulate human appetite.
The effect of MSG was discovered when a human ate a meal with MSG, and then became hungry again. Humans will eat more food when flavored with MSG, and the desire to eat food increases in frequency. While the mechanism is not completely understood, there is a hypothesis that chronic MSG intake may produce a pathological change of arcuate nucleus neurons and a disruptive effect on hypothalamic signaling cascade of leptin action, that leads to leptin resistance which is related to increase in body weight.3,4,5 Rene et al, 2019, up on review have reported that the metabolic alterations in MSG-induced obesity are associated with the gender as well as aging.6 Akataobi 2019, have reported that there is a dose-dependent effect of MSG on the obesity of both neonatal- and adult-administered rats.7 MSG is considered to be a food ingredient that is generally recognized by the Saudi Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).8 In addition, some studies have suggested that only a few natural foods contain a small quantity of free glutamic acid e.g. cow milk, codfish.3 The complications of the adult disease arise from childhood. Many environmental parameters usually affect eating behaviors, such as excessive reliance on food consumed away from home, marketing, food prices, food advertising, and promotions. There is clear evidence about the relation of obesity with MSG intake in animals.9 There is a continuous search for herbal remedies for treating obesity.10,11 Time-limitation has become an important factor in the determination of the types of food consumed.12
Worldwide MSG consumption has raised dramatically in recent decades. MSG has become a health concern particularly considering the epidemic of overweight/ obesity conditions. However, the exact relation between MSG intake and obesity or slightly increased weight in humans cannot be described clearly, possibly due to difficulties in quantifying MSG intake, particularly in industrialized countries where it was widely added in commercial food processing.3
The levels of obesity are continuously increasing across Saudi Arabia. The rising levels of obesity and overweight children are found to be the major concerns for the Saudi Arabian population.13 Obesity is also association of neurotic depression.14 There are reports about descriptive studies concerning the factors associated with obesity among school children15,16,17 and the effect of education on obesity in adults.18,19 There are many surveys conducted regarding awareness of patients on medications but no study has been reported concerning MSG.20,21,22 The purpose of this survey was to evaluate parents awareness of a possible association between monosodium glutamate intake and being overweight among young children in Saudi Arabia.
This cross-sectional study was conducted from 27th February to 6th April 2016 in Saudi Arabia among parents of children aged between 6-18 years. The survey questionnaire (14 questions) was prepared in Arabic. A pilot study on 30 parents was conducted before the main study to check the validity. The questionnaire was pre- tested by parents and it was clear and understandable. The Google survey link was distributed randomly through social media applications such as WhatsApp and Twitter. Parents of children (6-18 years) willing to participate were included in the study irrespective of their gender and education to avoid responder’s bias. Participant’s identity was kept anonymous for
maintaining the confidentiality. The questionnaire has two parts, one part related the demographic information such as Age, Sex, height and weight and the other part was related to the fast food consumption, and preference for eating food at home. Respondents were asked if they knew that fast food has a fundamental role in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity. Prior approval for the survey was taken from the ethical committee of Ibn Sina National College for Medical studies. Jeddah.
Data analysis:
The BMI (Body Mass Index) was determined following the WHO, 2007 growth charts based up on information obtained from varied ethnicity and culture.23 Children with BMI less than −2 SD, between −2 SD and +1 SD, between +1 SD and +2 SD, above +2 SD from mean for age and sex were considered as underweight, normal, overweight and obese respectively. Statistical analysis was made between the normal and overweight (including obese) children using “t” and chi square test. Results were expressed as mean and standard deviations. P-value
<0.05 were considered significant.
The demographic data of the study participants could be summarized as follows (Table 1). A total of 572 parents responded to the survey out of which 59.9% were parents of children aged from 6-10 years, 23.8% were aged between 11-14 years, and 16.3% were aged from 15-18 years. The percent of males and female children were 9.3% and 90.7% respectively.
According to the BMI, 73.9% were of normal or underweight, while 26.1% were overweight or obese. Children who preferred fast food at home accounted for 77.2%, while 22.8% did not. 16.8% reported eating fast food meals once a month, 35% once a week, while 17.5% reported once every two weeks, and 30.6% reported more than once in two weeks. The participant awareness of fast food having a fundamental role in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity was 97.7%, while 2.3% were not aware.
Children who are overweight or obese are considered to represent a smaller percentage of children in Saudi Arabia compared to other gulf countries, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where 40% of children are overweight,24 this indicates awareness among the parents in Saudi Arabia about obesity and its causes. There is a statistically significant relationship between average weight and a preference for fast food at home, as the p- value was 0.001, (p<0.05), which agrees to the earlier report of Currie et al, 2010.25 Respondents were aware that fast food has a fundamental role in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity (p, 0.019), which is contradicting
the earlier report of Nada and Ahmed, 2005,26 may be attributed to the rise in education and knowledge. Respondents were found to be aware that fast food is related to the occurrence of cancer (p, 0.045), but there are no similar previous reports. The majority of kids
eating rate for fast-food meals was once a week as shown in Table 1. Most of the parents agree that advertisement plays an important role in consumption of fast food, which is in congruence to the earlier reports made by Chou and Grossman in 2008.27
Table 1: Response in numbers along with chi-square and ‘P’ value
|
Questions |
What is the average weight of your child |
Chi square value |
‘P’ value |
||
|
Below or Normal |
Overweight or obese |
||||
|
Does your kids prefer fast food at home? |
Yes |
312 |
129 |
10.01 |
0.001 |
|
No |
110 |
20 |
|||
|
Are you agree with the increase of fast-food restaurant numbers |
Yes |
27 |
9 |
0.024 |
0.528 |
|
No |
395 |
140 |
|||
|
Do you support the replacement of junk food in schools with healthy meals |
Yes |
406 |
140 |
1.330 |
0.177 |
|
No |
16 |
9 |
|||
|
Do you think that fast-food has a fundamental role in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity among children in Saudi Arabia |
Yes |
409 |
149 |
4.697 |
0.019 |
|
No |
13 |
0 |
|||
|
Do you think that fast food is related to the spread of cancer |
Yes |
354 |
134 |
3.241 |
0.045 |
|
No |
68 |
15 |
|||
|
Do you think fast-food causes addiction |
Yes |
317 |
132 |
11.896 |
0.00 |
|
No |
105 |
17 |
|||
|
From my point of view the main cause of child junk food addiction |
Tastes delicious |
315 |
105 |
1.341 |
0.511 |
|
Made easy |
59 |
22 |
|||
|
Lack of sufficient time to prepare a healthy food |
48 |
22 |
|||
|
What's your kid's rate of eating these meals a month |
Once a week |
142 |
58 |
12.753 |
0.005 |
|
Once every two weeks |
78 |
22 |
|||
|
more than once two weeks |
119 |
56 |
|||
|
Once a month |
83 |
13 |
|||
|
Do you think that advertisement have a significant role in increasing consumption of fast foods? |
Yes |
384 |
137 |
0.125 |
0.435 |
|
No |
38 |
12 |
|||
|
What do you think is the best solution to limit the increase in obesity among children due to fast food |
Increase awareness |
222 |
63 |
4.696 |
0.019 |
|
Mandatory disclosure of calorie in the fast foods in restaurant. |
200 |
86 |
|||
P value < 0.05 indicate significance
Most participants were aware that fast food has a fundamental role in the prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. However, many activities should be done to keep that level of awareness, such as decreasing the rate of intake of fast food and increasing the dependence on homemade food.
Reducing the amount of monosodium glutamate taken in fast foods and snacks and some types of sweets for the prevention of some chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, and others. Increasing awareness about obesity and its main causes by putting posters in public places to raise general awareness. Announcing detailed information on the causes of obesity in local magazines. Decrease the habit of dependence on fast food.
This study was conducted on one certain category of age (children). Youth and the elderly were not included. The number of participants were limited.
The authors appreciate the support of deanship of scientific research in Jouf university, skaka, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia.
No conflict of interest regarding this manuscript was existing in this research.
No financial support was provided for this research.
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Received on 18.12.2020 Modified on 03.02.2021
Accepted on 11.03.2021 © RJPT All right reserved
Research J. Pharm. and Tech. 2021; 14(10):5270-5273.
DOI: 10.52711/0974-360X.2021.00918