Authors: Ahmed Saeed, Abdullah Sherif Abdullah, Zana Nasraddin Mohialdeen, Muhsin Abubakir, Sokar Ahmed Omer.
Background: Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims around the world, during which healthy adult Muslims abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn(sunrise) to sunset (Iftar). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of Ramadan intermittent fasting on the body weight.
Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during Ramadan from May-27th – May 2018. Three hundred and twenty-five volunteers from both genders were randomly selected, most of them were medical staff of our hospital. The volunteers were divided into normal body weight (BMI= 18.5-24.9), overweight (BMI=25-29.9) and obese (BMI= ≥ 30). weight and body mass index measured by the same scale on the last day of Ramadan. Were recorded Apart from weight other data collected from our participants like age, Gender, using medication or not, those who did Fasting with or without Suhur (Parshew) & those who did regular physical exercise or not during Ramadan.
Results: Most patient who were over-weight and obese were in the middle age group and those patients had more significant weight loss during Ramadan proportional to the number of days they fasted specially those had no Suhur meals.
Conclusion: Ramadan intermittent Fasting led to a statistically significant decrease in body weight and body mass index in the majority of the participants.
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