Objective: The increase in the consumption of prepared foods in recent years has affected the health of society. It is important to know the reasons for the use of ready-made foods, the amount of consumption, and to prevent the increase of their use. This study was performed with the purpose of investigating the amount of use of prepared foods by the people of Bushehr city.
Methods: In this descriptive analytical study, 162 healthy people with an age range of 15-49 years were randomly selected. A stool smear test was done for six months. The test method was to prepare a direct stool slide. Five scales of "negative, “low,” “very low,” “high," and "very high" were used for reporting. using descriptive statistical methods, ANOVA, and chi-square statistical software, in SPSS21 was analyzed.
Results: fast food consumption has an inversely significant correlation with intestinal microbiota (r = -0.752, p<0.001). Also, fast food consumption has a significant direct correlation with BMI (r = 0.432, p 0.001). Fast food consumption with gender (r = -0.311, p<0.001) and age (r = -0.165, p<0.035) also had a significant inverse correlation. By adjusting the effect of age, gender, and BMI, fast food consumption has a significant inverse correlation with intestinal microbiota (r=-0.634, p<0.001).
Conclusions: Consuming fast food reduces intestinal microbiota and increases body mass index. Fast food consumption is less in old age, and if we do not consider the effect of age, gender, and BMI, fast food consumption has an inverse correlation with the amount of intestinal microbiota.