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Hindi Research Article
Socio-economic Determinants Factors of Overweight and Obesity among Saudi Children
| Nasser Alqahtani1*, Jane Scott1, Saad Alshahrani2 and Shahid Ullah1 | |
| 1Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia | |
| 2Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia | |
| Corresponding Author : | Nasser Alqahtani Flinders University, Adelaide Riyadh PO Box 42248, Australia Tel: +966530102200 E-mail: nasadiet23@gmail.com |
| Received: November 30, 2014; Accepted: December 22, 2014; Published: December 29, 2014 | |
| Citation: Alqahtani N, Scott J, Alshahrani S, Ullah S (2014) Socio-economic Determinants Factors of Overweight and Obesity among Saudi Children. J Obes Weight Loss Ther 4:241. doi:10.4172/2165-7904.1000241 | |
| Copyright: © 2014 Alqahtani N, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
Abstract
Background: In recent decades obesity has emerged as a serious health issue among adolescents in developed and developing countries. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate relationship between Socio-economic Status (SES) and obesity among adolescents in both urban and rural areas of Saudi. Methodology: Cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011 using a multistage randomization method. It surveyed 1139 adolescents, 447 from rural areas and 692 from urban districts of Riyadh region in Saudi Arabia. Results: Male adolescents living in households which had a domestic driver were at a significantly higher risk of being obese in both the urban (p=0.02) and rural areas (p<0.001). Urban females living in a medium-income household are at the risks of overweight (p=0.02) and obesity (P<0.01). The risk of obesity was almost 11-times higher for females living in households which had a driver (p=0.01). Owning a computer was associated with an increased risk of overweight among urban adolescent females (p=0.01). Conclusion: Overweight and obesity now represent a national health crisis threatening adolescents in particular. An immediate action is indeed important to fight against this serious health issue among this age group.
