Abstract
The study examined the associations between lifestyle habits and overweight/obesity among Saudi females attending health science colleges. A total of 454 female students were randomly recruited from five health science colleges at King Saud University, using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. Body weight and height were measured, and body mass index was calculated. All participants answered a validated questionnaire to assess physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviors (SB), sleep duration, and dietary habits. Results showed that the prevalence of overweight (21.4%) plus obesity (8.1%) among female participants was 29.5%. There was no significant difference between overweight/obese and nonoverweight/nonobese females in PA, screen time, sleep duration, or dietary habits. Overall, 50.4% of the participants were physically inactive (activity energy expenditure was <600 metabolic equivalent minutes per week). Active females showed significantly (p < 0.01) higher intakes of vegetables and fruits, lower chocolate/candy consumption (p = 0.05), and higher proportion of sufficient sleeping duration (>8 hours per night) (p < 0.001). It was concluded that half of the Saudi females in this study were physically inactive. Although PA positively impacted some of the lifestyle habits of college females, overweight/obesity was not associated with PA, SB, sleeping time, or dietary habits among the participants. Future research should attempt to elucidate the key factors involved in such relationship.
Highlights
The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide [1]
The activity levels were classified according to total activity energy expenditure in total METsmin/wk into inactive and active participants based on a cutoff value of 600 metabolic equivalent (MET)-min/wk
In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the associations of lifestyle habits with obesity and physical activity status among a representative sample of female students attending five health science colleges from a large public university in Saudi Arabia
Summary
The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide [1]. In the Arabian Gulf States, the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among adults were estimated to be at 25–50% and 13–50%, respectively [3]. Obesity in Saudi Arabia, in particular, is notably high. The reported national prevalence rates of overweight plus obesity [body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2] among youths aged 15–24 years were 54.1% and 51.6% for males and females, respectively [4]. An earlier study showed that the rates of overweight and obesity among Saudi adolescents 13–18 years of age were 26.6% and 10.6%, respectively [5]. There appear to be a rising trends in obesity prevalence among Saudi youths over the past few decades [6,7,8]
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