Saudi Arabian Dental Students’ Knowledge and Beliefs Regarding Obesity in Children and Adults

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to determine knowledge/beliefs of a group of Saudi Arabian dental students regarding overweight/obesity (OW/OB). Dental students (fourth-year, ifth-year, and interns) at King Saud University College of Dentistry completed an anonymous questionnaire regarding OW/OB in children and adults. Frequency distribution and chi-square analyses were done. The total respondents were 260 (response rate=87 percent), most of whom were male (59 percent). Half of the respondents reported their knowledge of OW/OB in adults/children to be average, with knowledge of pediatric OW/OB rated lower (37 percent reported it as fair/poor) than adult OW/OB (17 percent reported it as fair/poor). Only a third (34 percent) of the respondents selected body mass index (BMI) as the best method to identify OW/OB. More than half of the respondents correctly believed that OW/OB was a problem in many adults/children in Saudi Arabia. A slightly higher proportion endorsed a role for dentists in the identiication/prevention of OW/OB in children (76 percent) as compared to adults (69 percent). Female respondents had better knowledge than males about OW/OB and were more likely to correctly select BMI as the best method for identifying OW/OB. These indings may provide support for the expansion of education in these areas in the dental curriculum.

Public and dental teams' views about weight management interventions in dental health settings: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The remaining six studies are summarized and analyzed descriptively. [43][44][45][46][47][48] Most studies reported data on the views of the dental team (n = 23), with seven reporting views of the public about weight screening and discussion. Most studies focused on weight screening for children (n = 15).…”

“…43,46 One further study reported over three quarters of dental students in Saudi Arabia endorsed the role of dentists in the identification and prevention of overweight and obesity for children (76%) and over two thirds of students endorsed this for adult patients (69%). 47 Wright et al, a study in the United States, reported 17% of pediatric dentists already offer childhood obesity interventions. 44 Of those not currently offering interventions, over two thirds (67%) reported an interest in commencing some form of weight intervention for children.…”

Pediatric obesity‐related curricular content and training in dental schools and dental hygiene programs: systematic review and recommendations

“…Reasons for exclusion revolved around “not addressing dental or dental hygiene education about pediatric obesity.” The PRISMA flow diagram is presented in Figure . Three studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. A summary abstraction of these three studies is presented in Table .…”

“…Another study by Wyne et al . describes the nutrition‐related coursework given in the second year of a predoctoral dental curriculum in Saudi Arabia relative to the fourth‐, fifth‐, and sixth‐year dental students' knowledge, beliefs, and perceptions relative to management of overweight/obesity in dental practice, including the care of children. In the College of Dentistry in Riyadh, where the study was conducted, the nutrition‐related curriculum comprises two lectures given in the context of the second‐year preventive dentistry course.…”

“…Overall, a small number of reports were included in the data‐abstraction stage, and the level of evidence was weak; we found no study systematically testing what predoctoral dental or dental hygiene students learned after an educational intervention (e.g., a new course or rotation) on overweight/obesity and consumption of SSBs. Two investigations were based on cross‐sectional examinations of students' self‐reports, with no concurrent or historic controls. The third study was essentially a program evaluation report that focused mostly on the acceptance and the interprofessional collaboration benefits of a dietetic rotation.…”