Abstract
Background: Recently obesity has become an epidemic health problem, not only in western countries but also in developing countries. We aim to provide contemporary estimates of the prevalence of obesity in Saudi male university students 18 - 20 years of age. We then compare these estimates to the most recently available estimates observed in American males of the same age. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we collected anthropometric and physical fitness data on 293 Prince Sultan University (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) male students aged 18 to 20 years. Obesity was defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) above the 95th percentile of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) sex-specific BMI-for-age growth charts for those 18 to 19 years old and as a BMI greater than 30 for those 20 years old. Data on their American counterparts were obtained the national Health and Nutrition. Evaluation survey (NHANES). Results: The mean BMI for the Saudi students was 25.7 (SD = 5.99) and the mean Waist to Height ratio was 0.498 (SD = 0.07). The prevalence of Obesity in Saudi students was 24.2%, 95% CI = (19.3%, 29.0%) and was not significantly different from the proportion of obese among their American counterparts (estimated to be between 16.6% and 29.3%). Discussion: In terms of obesity, Saudi male students were comparable to American males of the same age. Knowing that America is one of the most obese countries in the world, these figures rises some serious concerns about the future health risks of these students and calls for appropriate prevention programs.
Highlights
There was no significant difference in the prevalence of obesity between Prince Sultan University (PSU) students and the American male population of the same age: in PUS students between 19%
29% were obese; in the American male population (18 - 20 years of age), between 17% and 29% were obese; the difference in the prevalence of obesity between the two groups was estimated between −6.8% and 9.3%
Aside from Height-American males were significantly taller than PSU students-we did not observe any significant difference between PSU students and the US male population in terms of Weight, Body Mass Index, Waist circumference and Waist to height ratio (Table 2)
Summary
We aim to provide contemporary estimates of the prevalence of obesity in Saudi male university students 18 - 20 years of age We compare these estimates to the most recently available estimates observed in American males of the same age. Obesity was defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) above the 95th percentile of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) sex-specific BMI-for-age growth charts for those 18 to 19 years old and as a BMI greater than 30 for those 20 years old. Data on their American counterparts were obtained the national Health and Nutrition. Knowing that America is one of the most obese countries in the world, these figures rises some serious concerns about the future health risks of these students and calls for appropriate prevention programs
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