Relationship between Food Addictive Behavior and Physical Activity during Ramadan

Abstract

The relationship between the characteristicsof addiction severity and physical activity levels within thecontext of Ramadan, said to bring about remarkablephysiological, psychological, and social adaptations, hasbeen examined. In all, 139 subjects were sampled and theirphysical activity was classified as none, lightly, moderately,and heavily involved. Addiction severity was classified asnon-addicted, mildly addicted, moderately addicted, andseverely addicted. Descriptive statistics show slightdifferences across these categories, but there were no clearpatterns to suggest that higher levels of physical activitycorrelate with lower levels of addiction severity. AChi-Square test confirms that there is no significantassociation between physical activity and the severity ofaddiction (χ² = 7.96, p = 0.538). The relative effect sizeindicated by Cramer's V (0.138) signals a weakrelationship. These findings highlight the suggestion thatthe influence of physical activity on addictive behaviorsduring Ramadan may be less pronounced because of thereciprocal influence of cultural, psychological, andphysiological factors characteristic of this period. Theresults suggest the necessity for interventions that arewell-rounded and include stress management, socialsupport, lifestyle adaptations, and promotion of physicalactivity. Future studies should further investigate thoseinteractions in relation to creating culturally adaptedprevention strategies.