HIGH PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY IN SAUDI-ARABIA

OBJECTIVES: to study the pattern of body weight distribution and the p revalence of overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia. DESIGN: Cross-sec tional national epidemiological household survey. SUBJECT: 13177 Saudi subjects, over the age of 15 years. The sample was adjusted for gende r, age, regional and residency population distribution. The range and mean of age was similar for male and female subjects (15-95 years, 33 years). MEASUREMENT: questionnaire, describing the social, educational and financial status. Measurement of height, weight and calculation o f body mass index (BMI). WHO classification was used for defining over weight (BMI 25-30) and obesity (BMI > 30). RESULTS: The mean BMI for f emale subjects was significantly higher than for male subjects, whethe r for all subjects or subjects of any given age group. There was a pro gressive increase of BMI for male and female subjects with age, reachi ng maximum at the 5th decade. The prevalence of overweight among male subjects was significantly higher than for female subjects (29% vs 27% ). The prevalence of obesity among female subjects was significantly h igher than for male subjects (24% vs 16%). There was a gender variatio n within each region with respect to the prevalence of overweight with higher prevalence of overweight among male subjects, throughout all t he regions, except the Southern region, none of the differences, howev er, reached significance levels. The prevalence of obesity was signifi cantly higher among female subjects, throughout all the regions. Overw eight and obesity were more prevalent among illiterate, high-income su bjects who were residing in urban communities. CONCLUSION: This epidem iological household survey has shown high prevalence of overweight and obesity among Saudi subjects. The prevalence of obesity among female Saudi subjects was among the highest reported, whether, when using the WHO criteria or the 85th percentile of US subject aged 20-29 years. T he increase of prevalence of such conditions among high income subject s would reflect the perception of fatness as sign of affluence among t hose subjects. As the prevalence of obesity increases with age and con sidering that the majority of Saudi population are less then 30 years old at the present time, then, one would expect the magnitude of obesi ty to be even bigger in the near future, There is a need to establish programs for promoting awareness among the population of the health ha zards and means of control of obesity.