Obesity in Saudi Arabia

Obesity in Children in Poor Community of Saudi Arabia

Obesity in Children in Poor Community of Saudi Arabia

Introduction

Obesity is a term that defines excess body fat. In this contemporary era, there are various factors, which are causing this disorder to develop rapidly amongst every age group. In developed countries, like United States, obesity has become a common phenomenon, where majority of the population is suffering from over weighting and excess body fat. But there are reasons behind such disorder in U.S., which is principally their culture. U.S. has a predominantly fast culture, means that life is quite swift in U.S.; therefore, people are more dependent upon instants, readymade, products rather than preparing them at home. The culture of fast food is amongst the biggest cause of obesity in United States, there are hundreds of franchises of McDonalds, KFC and Burger King etc, which are catering to millions of people every day. And the biggest percentage of consumption is associated with teenagers. This is merely the reason that new generations in United States are more obese than any predeceasing ones (Al-Dossary, 2010, 1003).

Despite of American and European region, Middle East is also a place where fast food consumption rate is too high. People in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, U.A.E etc, also rely more upon fast food as compare to healthy food, despite of the fact that the life in Middle Eastern region is relatively slow as compare to western countries (Mahfouz, A, et al. 2011). But still, the phenomenon is understandable that the excessive consumption of fast food has also increase obesity in the Middle Eastern culture (Al-Dossary, 2010, 1003).

However, this paper is formulated to argue the increasing obesity in the children of poor communities of Saudi Arabia. It must be considered in mind that poor communities does not have enough financial resources to consume fast food regularly, despite they hardly consume fast food in their diet. Considering all such facts, what are the reasons behind the increasing obesity in the poor communities of Saudi Arabia? Various scholarly and literary arguments are considered to scrutinize this issue (Amin, T.T., et al. 2008). A number of socio-economic, cultural, political and technical issues are put under consideration to evaluate the chosen study (Al-Hazzaa, 2012, 354).

Brief Introduction to Obesity

Obesity is a term that defines excess body fat. Commonly used method to calculate body fat is Body Mass Index (BMI). One can calculate BMI using weight of person in kilograms and dividing it by the square of the height of the person. The classification of BMI varies with gender and age. Obesity has been twice what it used to be in 1980. According to estimates of World Health Organization (WHO) 65% of are living in areas and regions where obesity kills more population than underweight and in 2010 there were more than forty million children under the age of five are overweight (Al-Hazzaa, 2012, 354).

Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and ...