Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Introduction: A vegetarian diet is generally considered as healthy for preventing metabolic-related diseases. There is lack of studies in Malaysia comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians. This cross-sectional study aims to compare body weight status, dietary intake and bl...

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Main Authors:	Gan, Wan Ying, Boo, Shirley, Seik, Mei Yee, Khoo, Hock Eng
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Nutrition Society of Malaysia 2018
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/13702/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/13702/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/13702/1/Comparing%20the%20nutritional%20status%20of%20vegetarians%20and%20non-vegetarians%20from%20a%20Buddhist%20organisation%20in%20Kuala%20Lumpur%2C%20Malaysia.pdf

id	upm-13702
recordtype	eprints
spelling	upm-137022018-07-06T09:19:23Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/13702/ Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Gan, Wan Ying Boo, Shirley Seik, Mei Yee Khoo, Hock Eng Introduction: A vegetarian diet is generally considered as healthy for preventing metabolic-related diseases. There is lack of studies in Malaysia comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians. This cross-sectional study aims to compare body weight status, dietary intake and blood pressure level between these two groups. Methods: A total of 131 vegetarians and 135 non-vegetarians were recruited using convenience sampling from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur. Body weight, height, waist circumference, percentage of body fat, and blood pressure measurements were taken, while dietary intake was assessed using a 2-day 24-hour dietary recall. Results: More vegetarians were underweight than non-vegetarians (31.3% vs 15.6%), while prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher among the non-vegetarians (23.7% vs 9.9%). A higher proportion of non-vegetarians (34.1%) had an unhealthy range of body fat percentage and significantly higher risk of abdominal obesity (24.4%) than the vegetarians (19.1% body fat; 13.7% abdominal obesity). Mean intakes for protein and fat were significantly lower among the vegetarians, while no significant differences were observed in the mean intake for energy and carbohydrate. Vegetarians had significantly higher intakes of vitamins C, D and E, calcium, potassium and folate, while vitamin B12 intake was significantly higher in the non-vegetarians. More non-vegetarians presented with unhealthy blood pressure status. Conclusion: Vegetarians in this study generally showed healthier dietary intake and lower body fatness than the non-vegetarians. Studies are suggested to be undertaken on a bigger sample size of vegetarians to confirm these findings. Nutrition Society of Malaysia 2018 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/13702/1/Comparing%20the%20nutritional%20status%20of%20vegetarians%20and%20non-vegetarians%20from%20a%20Buddhist%20organisation%20in%20Kuala%20Lumpur%2C%20Malaysia.pdf Gan, Wan Ying and Boo, Shirley and Seik, Mei Yee and Khoo, Hock Eng (2018) Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Nutrition, 24 (1). pp. 89-101. ISSN 1394-035X http://www.nutriweb.org.my/publications/mjn0024_1/MJN%2024(1)_89-101_2018%20(Gan%20WY,%20Boo%20S,%20Seik%20MY%20et%20al.).php
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
building	UPM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Introduction: A vegetarian diet is generally considered as healthy for preventing metabolic-related diseases. There is lack of studies in Malaysia comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians. This cross-sectional study aims to compare body weight status, dietary intake and blood pressure level between these two groups. Methods: A total of 131 vegetarians and 135 non-vegetarians were recruited using convenience sampling from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur. Body weight, height, waist circumference, percentage of body fat, and blood pressure measurements were taken, while dietary intake was assessed using a 2-day 24-hour dietary recall. Results: More vegetarians were underweight than non-vegetarians (31.3% vs 15.6%), while prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher among the non-vegetarians (23.7% vs 9.9%). A higher proportion of non-vegetarians (34.1%) had an unhealthy range of body fat percentage and significantly higher risk of abdominal obesity (24.4%) than the vegetarians (19.1% body fat; 13.7% abdominal obesity). Mean intakes for protein and fat were significantly lower among the vegetarians, while no significant differences were observed in the mean intake for energy and carbohydrate. Vegetarians had significantly higher intakes of vitamins C, D and E, calcium, potassium and folate, while vitamin B12 intake was significantly higher in the non-vegetarians. More non-vegetarians presented with unhealthy blood pressure status. Conclusion: Vegetarians in this study generally showed healthier dietary intake and lower body fatness than the non-vegetarians. Studies are suggested to be undertaken on a bigger sample size of vegetarians to confirm these findings.
format	Article
author	Gan, Wan Ying Boo, Shirley Seik, Mei Yee Khoo, Hock Eng
spellingShingle	Gan, Wan Ying Boo, Shirley Seik, Mei Yee Khoo, Hock Eng Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
author_facet	Gan, Wan Ying Boo, Shirley Seik, Mei Yee Khoo, Hock Eng
author_sort	Gan, Wan Ying
title	Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
title_short	Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
title_full	Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
title_fullStr	Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
title_sort	comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a buddhist organisation in kuala lumpur, malaysia
publisher	Nutrition Society of Malaysia
publishDate	2018
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/13702/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/13702/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/13702/1/Comparing%20the%20nutritional%20status%20of%20vegetarians%20and%20non-vegetarians%20from%20a%20Buddhist%20organisation%20in%20Kuala%20Lumpur%2C%20Malaysia.pdf
first_indexed	2018-09-07T13:25:33Z
last_indexed	2018-09-07T13:25:33Z
_version_	1610955340962070528

Comparing the nutritional status of vegetarians and non-vegetarians from a Buddhist organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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