Relationship between Level of Anxiety and Insomnia with Fast and Junk Food among University Students in Gaza Strip, Palestine ^†

Abstract

Diet is an important cause that may affect the course of non-infectious diseases. Students may be subject to stressors, anxiety, insomnia, and bad nutritional habits. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the levels of anxiety, insomnia, fast and junk food among Gazan Palestinian university students. This cross-sectional study of university students of both genders from different majors at Al-Azhar University and Palestine Technical College used random sampling techniques. After receiving ethical approval, data were collected using a validated questionnaire. The generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and Glasgow Sleep Effort Scale (GSES) were used to assess the nature and severity of anxiety. A short-self-administered questionnaire for fast and junk food was also used. More than 80% of participants had anxiety. In addition, 75.9% of participants had insomnia. This study showed significant positive associations between anxiety level and insomnia, and there was a statistically significant positive correlation between anxiety level insomnia fast and junk food consumption. The findings indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the socioeconomic, demographic, and educational characteristics of the respondents with regard to anxiety and insomnia. Moreover, there was no statistically significant difference between these characteristics and the consumption of fast and junk food. It was determined that anxiety level might increase as insomnia level increases. In addition, both anxiety and insomnia might increase when the consumption of fast and junk food increases.