Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Overweight and obesity represent a rapidly growing pandemic of public health concern that affects virtually all ages and socio-economic groups. They are associated with epidemic of chronic diseases all over the world. Gulf countries are at top of the list for this epidemic. Aims & Objectives: To study the prevalence and factors associated with obesity among females attending Al-Qatif health care centers, Eastern Saudi Arabia.
Materials and Methods: A cross- sectional study was carried out among adult females, attending al Qatif primary health care centers (PHCCs), whose age was ≥ 18 years.
Results: Prevalence of obesity using BMI as a marker was 30.8% while prevalence of overweight was 29% culminating into 59.8% of our study women are above normal body weight. In the studied sample 34.6% had normal BMI, 5.6% were under weight and only 37.5% had an acceptable waist circumference. Significant factors associated with obesity included: age, marriage, unemployment, those with higher education and number of children while there was no significant relation with personal or family income. There was a statistically significant association between obesity as measured by BMI and waist circumference. Conclusion: Prevalence of overweight and obesity among our study participants was lower than national figures, gulf and other nearby countries and international figures. Having better results in our study reflects regional within country variation which may be explained here by slower urbanization of Al-Qatif region