ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1675975
This article is part of the Research TopicEating Behavior and Chronic Diseases: Research Evidence from Population Studies, Volume IIView all 18 articles
Effects of meal regularity and snacking frequency on irritable bowel syndrome
Provisionally accepted
- King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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Background: Dietary practices often trigger irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms. This study primarily aimed to identify and compare the frequency of different eating behaviours in free-living adults in Saudi Arabia with either self-diagnosed IBS or IBS diagnosed based on Rome IV criteria. The study also examined how irregular eating affects IBS symptom severity. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 204 adults, 106 (52%) with self-diagnosed IBS and 98 (48%) with Rome IV-defined IBS. All participants completed a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics, IBS diagnosis (using Rome IV criteria), IBS symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS), and eating patterns. Results: Irregular eating patterns were similarly reported in both groups. Dietary practices such as not eating meals on a regular schedule and skipping breakfast were reported by approximately 20% and 30% of the participants in each group, respectively. In the regression analysis, frequent snacking was independently associated with lower IBS-SSS, while chewing difficulty, chronic conditions, and type of IBS diagnosis predicted higher severity (adjusted R² = 0.260, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Frequent snacking is linked to reduced IBS symptom severity; however, there is a need to consider dietary behaviours alongside comorbid conditions and type of IBS diagnosis in IBS management. Further research into self-diagnosed IBS (a widely prevalent patient group) is required to better understand how these individuals differ from those with a formal diagnosis.
Keywords: Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Dietary practices, eating behaviour, Meal frequency, Snack frequency
Received: 29 Jul 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ajabnoor. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sarah M Ajabnoor, smajabnoor@kau.edu.sa
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