The prevalence of obesity and overweight, associated demographic and lifestyle factors, and health status in the adult population of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic diseases, and its prevalence and trends vary among populations. Saudi Arabia shows a greater rise in prevalence than many other countries. We aimed to study the association between several chronic disorders, demographic, and lifestyle factors with increased body mass index (BMI) in the adult population of Jeddah. Methods: Data were obtained from a door-to-door cross sectional study. A three-stage stratified cluster sampling technique was adopted. Individuals in selected households agreeing to participate were interviewed to complete a predesigned questionnaire covering demographic and lifestyle variables, medical history, and family history of chronic diseases. This was followed by anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. A random capillary plasma glucose (RPG) was measured, followed by further testing using fasting plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to verify whether participants were normal, diabetic, or prediabetic. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to adjust for confounding factors. Results: A total of 1419 individuals were included in the study: 667 men and 752 women. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 35.1 and 34.8%, respectively, in men, and 30.1% and 35.6%, respectively, in women. Both overweight and obesity increased in prevalence to 60 years of age, and decreased in the oldest age group in both sexes. After adjusting for age, risk of obesity in men was increased with having a postgraduate degree [odds ratio (OR), 95%CI = 2.48, 1.1–5.61] and decreased with increased physical activity (OR, 95%CI = 0.49, 0.26–0.91). Risk of prediabetes and diabetes was increased in obese women (OR, 95%CI = 2.94, 1.34–6.44, and 3.61, 1.58–8.26 respectively), that of hypertension in obese men (OR, 95%CI =2.62, 1.41–4.87), and that of dyslipidemia in both sexes (OR, 95%CI = 2.60, 1.40–4.83 in men, and 2.0, 1.01–3.85 in women). A family history of dyslipidemia was associated with reduced risk of obesity among women (OR, 95%CI = 0.33, 0.12–0.92), whereas, in people with above normal weight (BMI ⩾25), there was increased risks of prediabetes, diabetes, and dyslipidemia among women (OR, 95%CI = 2.50, 1.21–5.17; 3.20, 1.45–7.03, and 1.88, 1.02–3.49, respectively ), and of hypertension among men (OR, 95%CI = 1.80, 1.00–3.23). Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Saudi population remain high, indicating ineffectiveness or lack of preventive measures. Risk of prediabetes, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension increased with increasing BMI, with some sex differences in these associations.

The use of electronic health records to examine the association between obesity and chronic conditions: Results from a population-based sample in Saudi Arabia

“…In addition, several previous regional cross-sectional studies have indicated variations in obesity prevalence in the Kingdom [21,24,25]. Although these rates varied between regions due to limited sample size and differences in age groups, their ndings consistently align with our ndings on the higher obesity prevalence among women.…”

Epidemiology, Predisposing Factors, Biomarkers, and Prevention Mechanism of Obesity: A Systematic Review

“…According to the framework, the basic causes including poverty, social condition, and political, economic, ecological, and other factors were the root reason for any form of malnutrition [13]. Different literature studies explicitly identified sociodemographic factors that were highly correlated with obesity, for example, older age [2,6], married (marital status) [14], low wealth index [6,10,[15][16][17], urban residency [6,10,16,18], being female [2,9], learning in private schools [2,9,19,20], easy accessibility of junk and fired or energy-dense foods and packed animal source foods due to free trade policy [2], rural to urban migration, replacement of local agribusiness with food retail [21], higher education level [6,7,22], and being pregnant [6,18]. In contrary to the previous findings, a study conducted among French women shows that having a higher income, a higher occupational class, and a higher educational level and having hot water at home reduce the occurrence of obesity [23] although the pathophysiology of hot water at home and obesity occurrence was not yet studied.…”

“…e prevalence of obesity among reproductive-age women was 5.1% in India [6], 15.7% in Palestinian schoolchildren, and 34.8% among adult populations of Saudi Arabia [7]. e prevalence of overweight and obesity was 40.9% in Kuwait among children aged 6-8 years.…”

Application of Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) on the Prediction of Obesity

“…The prevalence rate of obesity is on uttermost in Anglosphere countries inclusive USA, and Middle East high-income countries, which encompass severely obese patients [6,7]. Particularly, in Saudi Arabia the prevalence rate of obesity has been estimated to be 35.4% which is higher than its other neighboring countries 31.7% in United Arab Emirates, and 27% in Oman respectively [8]. A sedentary lifestyle is considered as one of its main reasons across the globe which is estimated at approximately 10% of the population is obese and approximately twice and thrice of 1970s data the reason behind this intake of the calories has increased across the world [9].…”