Knowledge and Perception Towards The Keto Diet Among The General Population in Baghdad City, Iraq

Abstract

Background and Aims: The ketogenic diet or keto diet (KD) is a recently used diet regime by a lot of the population for weight loss. The purpose of this study was to examine the general population’s knowledge and perceptions regarding the KETO diet in Baghdad, Iraq. Methods: This study included 203 respondents who completed an internet-based survey. A questionnaire adopted from a previous study was used to assess the knowledge and perception of the respondents. Results: Almost all the participants (98.5%) had heard of the ketogenic diet, 41.8 percent were currently following it, and 26% had tried it before. The longest time spent following the keto diet was one month (26%), and 44.3% of participants admitted to taking supplements while on the diet. Around half of the respondents (44.8%) said that the keto diet helped them lose weight and keep it off. In general, most of the participants had good knowledge of the keto diet, except for 2 parts, nutritional ketosis, and long-term studies on the keto diet effect, where the majority answered don’t know (70.9%, 43.3%) respectively. In terms of perception, around half of the respondents (42.8%) agreed that the keto diet should only be prescribed by doctors or nutritionists, while 40.0% disagreed that the keto diet is safe to follow for the long term. Conclusions: In conclusion, nowadays the ketogenic diet is a very popular weight loss diet, especially among young adults; however, more health promotion and education are required especially about long-term side effects of it.

References

1. 1.Kalra S, Singla R, Rosha R, Dhawan M, Khandelwal D, Kalra B. The Ketogenic Diet. US Endocrinology. 2018;14(2):62.
2. 2.Dowis K, Banga S. The Potential Health Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet: A Narrative Review. Nutrients. 2021 May 13;13(5):1654.
3. 3.D’Andrea Meira I, Romão TT, Pires do Prado HJ, Krüger LT, Pires MEP, da Conceição PO. Ketogenic Diet and Epilepsy: What We Know So Far. Frontiers in Neuroscience [Internet]. 2019 Jan 29;13(5). Available from: https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC6361831/
4. 4.Christensen MG, Damsgaard J, Fink- Jensen A. Use of ketogenic diets in the treatment of central nervous system diseases: a systematic review. Nor- 46 Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences ,Vol. 11, Issue 4 , October - 2023, Rabi’Al-Awwal - 1445 Knowledge and perception towards the keto diet among the general population in Baghdad City, Iraq dic Journal of Psychiatry. 2020 Aug 6;75(1):1–8.
5. 5.Crosby L, Davis B, Joshi S, Jardine M, Paul J, Neola M, et al. Ketogenic Diets and Chronic Disease: Weighing the Benefits Against the Risks. Frontiers in Nutrition [Internet]. 2021 Jul 16;8. Available from: https:// www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ fnut.2021.702802/full
6. 6.Pappas S. Keto Diet: What It Is, How It Works and Why It May Not Be Safe [Internet]. livescience.com. Live Science; 2018. Available from: https:// www.livescience.com/63626-keto-diet.html
7. 7.Masood W, Uppaluri KR, Annamaraju P. Ketogenic Diet [Internet]. Nih.gov. StatPearls Publishing; 2019. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ books/NBK499830/
8. 8.Drabińska N, Wiczkowski W, Piskuła MK. Recent advances in the application of a ketogenic diet for obesity management. Trends in Food Science & Technology. 2021 Apr;110:28–38.