Prevalence and risk factors of obesity and overweight in adult Saudi population
Introduction
Obesity is considered an epidemic health problem as populations adopt sedentary lifestyles and increase their per capita caloric intake [1], [2], [3]. It is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and stroke [4]. This accumulation of body fat is associated with genetic, metabolic, hormonal and behavioral risk factors [5]. Obesity is usually defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or higher while overweight is defined as a BMI between 25 and 29.9 kg/m2 [6].
Obesity has been noted as a major public health problem in many countries including Arab countries [7], [8], [9], [10], [11]. Although prior studies in Saudi Arabia reported high rates of overweight and obesity [12], [13], [14], [15], more information is needed to determine the factors related to the increasing levels of overweight and obesity, and to develop appropriate prevention strategies. This paper will examine the risk factors of obesity and overweight among adult Saudis using data from three of the largest regions of Saudi Arabia.
Section snippets
Population
The data used in this study were collected as a part of a Saudi national survey (1990–1993) to determine the prevalence of chronic metabolic diseases and related risk factors. The study population included rural and urban male and female Saudi adults between 15 to 70 years of age living in three regions of Saudi Arabia (SA). A Saudi was identified as a person either holding a Saudi Nationality Identification Card or a dependent of a holder. Age was calculated from the official date of birth on
Results
A total of 3271 participants (50.5% females and 49.5% males) completed the survey questionnaire. Height and weight measurements were not available for 10 participants and 156 participants did not provide waist and hip circumference measurements.
The prevalence of overweight and obesity, using BMI as the index of adiposity, are shown in Table 1. For the overall population and for each age group, there were higher proportions of females categorized as obese; 31.55% and 49.15% of Saudi women were
Discussion
A striking finding of the study was the very high prevalence of overweight and obesity among Saudi adults. Our data show that the majority of the population was either overweight (36.68%) or obese (39.65%). This high prevalence has been noted in other Saudi studies [12], [13], [14], [15], although one study reported a lower prevalence of obesity (17.2%) and overweight (26%) [21]. This lower prevalence, however, might be attributed to its inclusion of teenagers and young adults in the study.
In
References (34)
- et al.
The pathogenesis of obesity
Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
(1999) - et al.
Varying sensitivity of waist action levels to identify subjects with overweight or obesity in 19 populations of the WHO MONICA Project
J Clin Epidem
(1999) An epidemiologic perspective of systemic hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and heart failure
Am J Cardiol
(1997)Obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes—a worldwide epidemic
Br J Nutr
(2000)- et al.
Trends in body mass index and prevalence of obesity in Swedish women 1980–89
J Epidem & Comm Hlth
(1993) - et al.
Shifting obesity trends in Brazil
Eur J Clin Nutr
(2000) - et al.
Lifetime health and economic consequences of obesity
Arch Int Med
(1999) - et al.
Assessing obesityclassification and epidemiology
Br Med Bull
(1997) Prevalence of obesity among adult Kuwaitisa cross-sectional study
International Journal of Obesity & Related Metabolic Disorders
(1995)- et al.
Diabetes, obesity, and hypertension in urban, and rural people of bedouin origin in the United Arab Emirates
J Trop Med Hyg
(1995)