OBESITY

Prevalance of Obesity in Saudi Arabia

Prevalance of Obesity in Saudi Arabia

Literature Review

Study of prevalence of childhood obesity

For years, obesity is considered one of the most serious epidemics of our society. Obesity and overweight are associated with serious health problems such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, dyslipidemia, musculoskeletal disorders and some cancers. If this situation is of concern in adults, it is even more so in children and adolescents. Childhood obesity is now a major public health problem, the sources of information available continues to rise worldwide, and carries an alarming trend in Saudi Arabia (Amin, Al-Sultan, et al, 2008, p. 172-181).

There is lack of information at national level in Saudi Arabia in relation to the prevalence of obesity in adults and children and adolescents. So far the data at our disposal in relation to the prevalence of obesity in adults and child and adolescent came from the National Health Surveys, which is data leading to an underestimation of overweight, and a relevant epidemiological study, which provided data on the prevalence of child and adolescent obesity in Saudi Arabia, taking measurements of weight and height using standardized processes that took place between 1998 and 2000, so their data have been old by the significant demographic changes in our country in recent years (Amin, Al-Sultan, et al, 2008, p. 172-181).

Fieldwork was conducted in schools by staff specifically prepared, taking anthropometric measurements of the students and collecting information on dietary and physical activity of children and their families, and social data, cultural and economic, which allowed better understanding of the problem of childhood obesity and its associated determinants using forms designed by the WHO aimed at schools, families, and examiners (Al-Almaie, 2007, p. 607-611). The measurement of obesity and overweight by Body Mass Index, calculated from weight and height, is the most widespread and accepted, but just as in adults there are fixed values that define overweight and obesity in children, being in continuous growth. These values can not be fixed, and need to set them for every moment of the life of both the boys and the girls (Amin, Al-Sultan, et al, 2008, p. 172-181).

Causes for the increase in prevalence

The reasons for the rapid increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in the last 20 years, needs to clarify ambiguity. Body weight is affected by the exercise and nutritional habits of the individual and not by a quantifiable biological or genetic predisposition. The individual exercise and nutritional habits are strongly influenced by the environment and social particularities (El-Habib, 2008, p. 157-163). Here, with increasing modernization changed much: The increasing physical inactivity is the result of prolonged TV and computer games, as well as the increasing motorization. For many children and their families, the nutrition and dietary behavior has changed because now a virtually unlimited supply of energy-dense foods taste attractive, but is available as finished products which are used and their composition can not be controlled (Al-Herbish, Al-Jurayyan, et al, 1999, ...