Prevalence of Obesity and Its Associated Factors among Female Students at AlJouf University, Saudi Arabia
Journal Title: National Journal of Research in Community Medicine - Year 2016, Vol 0, Issue 0
Abstract
Background: Overweight and obesity are rising in both the developing and developed world. Over the past 20 years, the rate of obesity has tripled in developing countries as they become more urbanized and adopt a lifestyle of higher caloric intake combined with a more sedentary lifestyle. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of obesity and its associated factors among students at AlJouf University in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted between 1st of March to end of May 2015. The study included 340 randomly selected female students enrolled at AlJouf University. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) were recorded for each student. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 16. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among the studied students was 41.1% (24.7% were overweight and 16.4% were obese). WC based obesity was detected among 20.9% of the studied students. BMI and WC were found to increase with the age of the studied students as there were significant positive correlations between age on one hand and BMI and WC on the other hand. There was statistical significant difference between obesity and father education as high BMI was more frequent among students with low father level of education. Also, it was noted that 75.9 % of the studied students would like to be slimmer and this was significantly higher among overweight and obese students. Conclusion: The present study suggests the need for strategies and great efforts at all levels to reduce the tendency of overweight and obesity and to promote healthy eating behaviors in the youth. Key words: prevalence, obesity, university students, body mass index, Saudi Arabia.
Authors and Affiliations
Doaa M. Abdel-Salam
Keywords
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