Self-Care by Muslim Women during Ramadan Fasting to Protect Nutritional and Cardiovascular Health López Bueno, Marta Fernández Aparicio, Ángel González Jiménez, Emilio Montero Alonso, Miguel Ángel Schmidt RioValle, Jacqueline Ramadan Obesity Bioimpedance Anthropometry Eating habits The practice of Ramadan involves a series of changes in lifestyle, mainly in eating habits. The research aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of overweight-obesity, the degree of compliance with dietary recommendations and the effects of religious fasting on cardiovascular health among a population of Muslim women living in Melilla, a Spanish city in North Africa. A follow-up cohort study was conducted on 62 healthy adult women (33.6 ± 12.7 years). Anthropometric and body composition parameters were obtained using bioimpedance and dietary records. All of the participants were overweight or obese, especially due to the non-compliance with dietary recommendations; however, more than 60% considered their weight was appropriate or even low. By the end of Ramadan, the women’s body mass index and fat component values had fallen significantly (p < 0.001), but this loss was later recovered. Dietary records revealed an excessive consumption of lipids and sodium, and the presence of a high waist-to-hip ratio. All of these factors are related to cardiovascular risk. In conclusion, promoting nutritional health and encouraging year-round self-care among adult Muslim women is necessary in order to ensure healthy fasting during Ramadan. 2021-11-29T10:58:56Z 2021-11-29T10:58:56Z 2021 info:eu-repo/semantics/article López-Bueno, M.; Fernández-Aparicio, Á.; González-Jiménez, E.; Montero-Alonso, M.Á.; Schmidt-RioValle, J. Self-Care by Muslim Women during Ramadan Fasting to Protect Nutritional and Cardiovascular Health. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 12393. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph 182312393 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/71810 10.3390/ijerph182312393 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España MDPI