Obesity in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example

OBESITY IN SAUDI ARABIA By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Obesity in Saudi Arabia 1.0 Information about Obesity in Saudi Arabia Obesity as defined by Thomas (2015, p.103) is excessive build-up of body fat and can lead to other conditions if not properly managed. Without a doubt, obesity is a chronic l condition that is more prevalent in both developing and developed countries. Furthermore, obesity is directly or indirectly related to different types of diseases like hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cancer as well as gall bladder diseases. Saudi Arabia is amongst countries with fast growing economies, but the economic growth and affluence has resulted in pronounced lifestyle changes. Most Saudis are eating foods that are less healthy and the number of people participating in physical activities has declined tremendously. As a result, the rate at which obesity in Saudi Arabia is increasing is alarming. In the last two decades, the western world influence has resulted in high consumption of sugar-dense beverages and fast foods. At the same time, advancement in technologies (elevators, cars, remotes, escalators, and so forth) has reduced the level of physical activity. Moreover, Saudis traditional reliance on natural produce that are locally grown like wheat, vegetables and dates has as well shifted. According to the National Nutrition Survey (2007), the incidence of obesity in Saudi Arabia was 14 per cent in men and 23.6 per cent in women while the overweight prevalence was established to be 30.7 per cent for men than 28.4 per cent for the women. As mentioned by Musaiger (2011, p.2), the prevalence of obesity and overweight has increased considerably in Arab countries, particularly in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait as well as Bahrain. Oil discovery in Saudi Arabia led to a rapid economic growth, which was followed by increased wealth as well as population growth. Economic success facilitates drivers of obesity such as demographics mechanization transitions, nutrition changes and health states epidemiology. Obesity in Saudi Arabia has been exacerbated by law rates of physical activities and transition to ‘westernised’ food culture, which normally includes ultra-processed foods. Currently, in the Arab region, between 25% and 40% of children as well as between 66% and 75% of adults are either obese or overweight, but obesity and overweight are more prevalent in Saudi Arabia. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) related to obesity and overweight are Dietary advice Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (DMT2), Coronary heart disease as well as hypertension, and these diseases are more prevalent in Saudi Arabia than in any country across the globe. Obesity and overweight prevalence rates in Saudi Arabia vary regionally; for instance, the central and eastern regions of the country have high rates as compared the southern regions. Besides, the central and eastern regions have experienced high prevalence of obesity and overweight in the last few years (DeNicola et al., 2015, p.193). Such regional differences are attributed to numerous factors namely; nutritional economic, social and cultural, which differ between such provinces. For instance, oil is produced in the eastern region and this region is known for its westernised physical activity as well as nutritional habits while the northern region maintain cultural attitude where obesity amongst women show beauty and affluence. The country’s south-western regions, which have lowest rates of obesity and overweight and have active lifestyles since majority of people, are involved in fishing as well as agriculture. Oil discovery in Saudi Arabia as mentioned above transformed the Saudi’s socioeconomic status, and as a result, obesity prevalence among adolescents increased from 3.4 per cent in 1988 to 24.5 per cent in 2005, and the rate has been increasing (Binrsheed, 2013, p.85). Although oil discovery has enormous benefits for Saudis, their lifestyle has turned out to be sedentary. According to Howlett et al. (2015, p.2), sedentary lifestyle is a recognised poor health outcomes predictor, which includes chronic conditions like heart diseases, arthritis and diabetes. Socioeconomic status improvement have made majority of Saudi children to be transported to schools by cars, watch television for long duration, play video games, and no longer play often in the open fields. Moreover, Saudi children that are obese according to Daştan and Delice (2015, p.61) are always less active as compared to those who are not obese. The environment could be a factor that drives obesity in Saudi Arabia since there is a considerable difference between people living in rural desert and rural farm in contrast to those living in towns. Sleeping is has become a lifestyle factor for many Saudis considering that sufficient sleep duration increase reduces likelihood of becoming obsess or overweight. 2.0 Reason of choose The reason for choosing this topic is to provide evidence that even though obesity is increasing across the globe, there is no well-defined solution for this problem. For the health care system, reducing obesity has become very challenging since it is a complex issue with many elements and interconnections. In this study, the objective is to show how the practices in the traditional primary care are challenged by obesity complexity. Systems thinking offer a solution to clinicians who have been overwhelmed or discouraged by the difficulty of obesity. The study will exhibit how shifting paradigms around factors that result in obesity is crucial for generating a health care system capable of promoting collaborative as well as innovative practice for healthcare practitioners and persons tasked with managing obesity. Without a doubt, reducing obesity is not easy due to its complex nature and its interconnected variables. Basically, this complex network of co-dependent variable needs an integrated and holistic response from different sectors as it will be exhibited in the critical systems heuristics. Another reason for choosing this topic is to establish the role played by the healthcare sector in solving the obesity problems in Saudi Arabia. Presently, health care practices in Saudi Arabia do not consider obesity as a complex problem; in consequence, the amount of resources available for the practitioners is exceedingly minimal and cannot address the devastating issue of obesity. This study will take into account the challenges presented by the complexity of obesity to the Saudi Arabia healthcare sector, and the frameworks and approaches used to manage this issue. Systems thinking can change how obesity is addressed by the healthcare practices, and the study seeks to exhibit how accepting the complexity associated to obesity can enable the health care move beyond the existing responses to obesity and work toward solutions that are more effective. 3.0 Critical Systems Heuristics “IS” “OUGHT” 1. Who is the actual client of the systems design? Obese Saudis seeking to improve their health status. The increasing number of Saudis with obesity requires more efficient and effective care. The health care systems is Important for the Saudis especially in promoting social welfare and quality of life. Underprivileged Saudis. 2. What is the actual purpose of the systems design? Supporting healthy eating Creating healthy options for the Saudis Improve reliable public health recommendations Improving quality of dietary to reduce obesity and related chronic diseases. Supporting people that require it and make sure it is accessible Ensure the needs of every person are served regardless of the social status. Ensure the health systems and programs are can be accessed by all Saudis. 3. What is its built-in measure of success? Focus on particular outcomes and developing processes so as to achieve those outcomes. Collaborating with the existing community-based entities across Saudi Arabia. Taking into account the social determinants impact. Implementing interventions that are centred on the affected populace. Improved living standards Obesity is not a life-time condition Health care programs are accessible to everyone. 4. Who is actually the decision-maker? Ministry of Health Senior managers of the private health sector Members of community organisations Decision makers include individuals who can envisage accurately the issues that affect people with obesity. The input from other stakeholders is crucial to ensure main decision makers focus on the real issues. 5. What conditions of successful planning and implementation of the system are really controlled by the decision-maker? Allocation of money. Health service offered and location of the health centres Conditions utilised for application of these services. Allocation of financial resources to address obesity issues is important. The location of health centres should be accessible. Conditions for access. 6. What conditions are not controlled by decision-maker? (e.g. environmental) Demographics. Accessibility of health care system Access to fast foods. Decisions made by people such as to seek medical attention. 7. Who is actually involved as planner? Ministry of Health Senior managers of the private health sector Members of community organisations. Health care workers Community where large number of people are overweight or obese 8. Who is involved as expert, and of what kind is the expertise? Theoreticians. Epidemiologists. Nurses Physicians Community health workers Employees at health centres Professional bodies involved 9. Where do the involved seek the guarantee that their planning will be successful? The health minister Senior managers of the private health sector. Health Practitioners. The community members. Feedback provided by the obese Saudis using the systems. Feedback provided by the health care practitioners. 10. Who amongst the involved witnesses represents the concerns of the affected? Who is or may be affected without being involved? Health practitioners, especially the nurses who understand the problems that face people with obesity. Health care employees at the health centres. 11. Are the affected given an opportunity to emancipate themselves from the experts and to take their fate into their own hands? Yes Obese people in Saudi Arabia have the right to seeks medical attention or other means they consider relevant to them. 12. What world view is actually underlying the design of the system? Is it the world view of some of the involved or some of the affected? Human rights to health care service Assumption there is equality in provision of healthcare services Everyone has a right to standard health care. There should be equality in the provision of the healthcare service for obese Saudis. 4.0 Frameworks and Approach One of very crucial and broadly established approach is the Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework. According to Ilesanmi-Oyelere (2011, p.23), the framework exhibits the importance of socio-cultural, political, economic and physical settings of an environment in addressing obesity as well as overweight. According to Ilesanmi-Oyelere (2011, p.23), pharmacological, behavioural and educational approaches for reducing the epidemic of obesity are essential, but they are not adequate due to manner in which local surroundings promote sedentary behaviours as well as high energy intake. The environment physical setting is the availability and accessibility of choices of unhealthy or healthy foods as well as the ability of the environment to support physical activity. The political environment can be described as regulations and rules and that guides the types of foods that can be consumed and limiting sedentary way of life in the environment. The environment economic setting relates to the financial or costs factors of foods (healthy or unhealthy) as well as the availability of physical activity. On the other hand, socio-cultural environment involves the cultural and social values and norms of society, which includes peer pressure, family influences as well as beliefs and perceptions about obesity and overweight. Both community-based interventions as well as population-based approaches for preventing obesity through ANGELO framework are essential components of obesity and overweight management. Although obesity and overweight are related to increased mortality and morbidity, it is imperative to accurately estimate the extent of obesity amongst populations as well as people having risks factors that are known. Another approach introduced to manage obesity is utilisation of wireless body area networks (WBANs), whereby the human body is attached with several sensors to sense certain information related to health with the goal of improving quality of life as well as healthcare. According to Alrajeh et al. (2014, p.2), obesity results in cardiovascular diseases and WBAN can be utilised to monitor obesity. This proposed framework includes a number of sensor nodes for monitoring the motion of the body, calories calculator as well as a personal server that connects with a personal computer or smart phone. In the WBAN framework, the body is attached with small electronic devices with the goal of monitoring certain problems associated with health like the level of blood sugar, blood pressure and organ movement. This proposed mechanism has hardware architecture and software architecture, the former deals with personal server and sensor nodes while the latter includes BMI calculator, calories calculator, calories consumption module, adder as well as suggestion module. Physical activity is a main behavioural intervention for obesity in Saudi Arabia. According to Laddu et al. (2011, p.515), physical activity together with dietary energy restriction can result in favourable outcome in weight loss the setting. Furthermore, combining energy restriction and exercise assists in countering the normal negative effects of caloric restriction, which includes lean tissue loss as well as reduced metabolic rate for resting. In addition, metabolic fitness can be achieved through physical activity even without losing a significant weight loss. Another approach for addressing obesity is the low-calorie diets (LCDs), normally followed for 3 to 12 months and can result in 8 per cent weight loss. Rapid weight loss according to Laddu et al. (2011, p.513) is induced through very low-calorie diets (VLCDs) for obese people, but such diets cannot be used for a longer-duration and can only be done with the help of a physician. According to Laddu et al. (2011, p.513), people with VLCDs are experiencing similar level of weight loss as compared to those using LCDs due to reduced observance on the diet. It has also been proposed that the Mediterranean diet that includes high intakes of vegetables as well as fruits, whole grain, fish and olive oil is an efficient dietary intervention for addressing obesity. In Saudi Arabia, commercial weight loss programs are widely utilised by obese Saudis, even though randomized controlled trials that evaluates their effectiveness are minimal. Bariatric Surgery is another approach widely used for obese individuals, especially those who cannot achieve normal weight through behavioural approaches or other approaches. According to Laddu et al. (2011, p.521), bariatric surgery provides an efficient technique for addressing obesity considering that it reduces body weight by almost 40 per cent. Weight loss following bariatric surgery can be explained by gastric restriction as well as Intestinal malabsorption. However, Malabsorptive procedures like the biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) as well as jejunoileal bypass (JIB) have been related to serious complication. Bariatric Surgery addresses obesity by reducing the stomach ability of accommodating food as well as narrowing the injected nutrients flow. 5.0 Literature review Obesity research according to Frood et al. (2013, p.320) mostly concentrates on the biomedical paradigms with the goal of isolating certain physiological causal mechanisms at individual level. From a biomedical viewpoint, obesity is caused by energy imbalance steered by individual behaviour where by the intake of energy with time surpasses energy expenditure. According to Frood et al. (2013, p.320), this approach has enormously impacted obesity prevention as well as treatment; thus, impacting government policy and clinical practice despite the existing evidence against its efficiency. In the last few decades, Frood et al. (2013, p.321) posit that there has been a shift towards a socio-ecological interpretation of obesity, wherein the people behaviour is positioned in the wider social context. Imperatively, the socio-ecological paradigm considered the political, cultural, and economic determinants and views individual obesity as moderately impacted by external forces. This according to Frood et al. (2013, p.321) makes obesity to appear complicated, but fails to justify the complexity characteristics exemplified by obesity. In Ahmed et al. (2014) study, they established that increased weight categories are prevalent amongst females. In South East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean and Africa, women are more inclined to be obese as compared to men. Furthermore, scores of studies in Saudi Arabia as cited by Ahmed et al. (2014, p.4) have established the incidence of obesity amongst females was exceedingly higher as compared to males. In their study, Ahmed et al. (2014, p.4) established that there was a strong relationship between obesity and diabetes or hypertension and obesity than nondiabetics or nonhypertensives. They further established that the prevalence of obesity amongst hypertensive as well as diabetics patients in Saudi Arabia was 54% and 46%, in that order. Ahmed et al. (2014) concludes that obesity is prevalent in Hail, Saudi Arabia, and since the prevalence is increasing there is urgent need for interventions. Some of the practicable solutions suggested in the study include health education about the right choices of food as well as encouraging every person to engage in exercise. In Al-Dossary et al. (2010) study, there noted that there was no considerable difference in the incidence of obesity between Saudi as well as non-Saudi children; therefore, they maintain the pattern of obesity is influenced by contributing factors such as role of the lifestyle, environment as well as lack of exercises and not mainly the genetic. Al-Dossary et al. (2010, p.1007) citing a number of studies argues that children who engaged in physical activities such as sports are less likely to become obese. In comparison to children from US, Al-Dossary et al. (2010, p.1007) noted that day-to-day involvement in physical activities is higher in Saudi Arabia as compared to US, but urban inhabitants in both countries were living sedentary lifestyle. Al-Dossary et al. (2010, p.1007) suggest that obesity preventions should become a priority, and the Saudi government should introduce health programmes that can increase the number of hours for physical education as well as healthy food consumption. In their study, Binrsheed (2013, p.99) suggest that both teachers and parents must be involved teachers the programs of addressing obese amongst children so as to ensure that children engage in physical activities and reduce the number of hours they spend on video games or TV programs. Obesity control according to Al-Malki et al. (2003, p.139) is important so as to prevent other chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes mellitus as well as cardiovascular disease from developing. Their study focussed on Saudis, and they noted that incidence of obesity was considerably higher in hypertensive and diabetic Saudis. According to Al-Malki et al. (2003, p.139), reduction of weight needs modification of lifestyles as well as dietary habits changes. Therefore, awareness concerning the dangerous effects of obesity as well as measures for preventing and reducing obesity are needed. Such programs must be implemented for every age group, but the Saudi females are the more perfect group for implementing the awareness programs given that they can use this information to prevent the development of obesity on their family and themselves. In addition, the Saudi females can disseminate this information to others; thus, setting a stage for implementing prevention programs. In Memish et al. (2014) study, they found out that obesity epidemic in Saudi Arabia may be decreasing or levelling, but the disease is related to high health costs. Their study findings established the need for programs that will help reduce the prevalence of obesity in Saudi Arabia. The programs should target groups such as unmarried women, uneducated, older as well men who are inactive and unmarried. Furthermore, the Saudis must focus on healthier diet and ensure the increase their vegetables and fruits consumption. According to Aoyama (1999, p.4), Saudi population health can be improved by introducing new programs that target obesity and other non-communicable diseases. Hussen et al. (2015, p.1471) in their study established that maternal obesity and overweight are related to high insulin resistance and improved glucose transfer as well as transfer of other nutrients across the placenta; thus, encouraging secretion of foetal insulin. According to Hussen et al. (2015, p.1472), obese mothers’ offspring have high fat mass as well as indications of insulin resistance after birth. Additionally, epigenetic factors within the obese mothers’ intrauterine environment induce metabolic dysregulation, beta cell stress as well as type 1 diabetes in individuals that are genetically vulnerable. Saleh (2013, p.765) in his study established that Saudi children weigh start increasing when they are at age of 5 to 9 years, with 40.6 of children being obese. According to Birch et al. (2007), the increase of weight is attributed to the lack measures to reduce the children eating habits. Childhood obesity in Saudi Arabia according to Saleh (2013, p.768) can be combated by changing the food habits, public policies as well as health systems. As mentioned by Almuhanna et al. (2014, p.71), childhood obesity prevalence is changing and increasing progressively and is mainly caused by nutritional risk factors. In the study, Almuhanna et al. (2014, p.79) established a considerable difference between female and male students, whereby the former outnumbered the latter both in terms of obesity prevalence. Almuhanna et al. (2014, p.79) assert that there exists a relationship between the prevalence of obesity or overweight and education level; that is to say, obesity is lower for Saudi students at primary level as compared to those at the intermediate as well as high school. The majority of mothers and father of school students as established in Cohen et al. (2014) study were less educated and only a few had gone beyond the university education level. Nonetheless, the occupations of both parents were not considerably associated with the body weight of their children. Alwan et al. (2013, p.110) established that the majority of the obese or overweight school students came from high-income families. The necessary precautions should be taken by parents especially with regard to their children diet and should also ensure their family have adopted a healthy way of life. The media as well as government must as well play their role in generating awareness for risk factors related to obesity and offer information about healthy meals. In their study, Al-Qahtani et al. (2013, p.1061) concluded that there was a high prevalence of obesity amongst primary school children, especially male in Al Madinah Region. They suggest a number of interventions and strategies that could help change food habits, but they emphasise mainly on education by means of mass media as well as encouraging obese people to engage in physical activities often. 6.0 Addressing the Area of Concern The questionnaire will involve 20 respondents (8 males and 12 females) studying and living in Australia. The purpose of the study will be to determine obesity prevalence among Saudi adults; to outline the obesity characteristics; to identify factors that contribute to obesity; and to establish the relationship between obesity and other disorders such as hypertension. The focus of the study will be on randomly recruited Saudis aged between 14 and 45 years, and the participation will be voluntary and an informed consent will be obtained. Essential details, specifically level of education, marital status and will be recorded while their weight and height will be measured using standard techniques. For the focus group, measuring tape will be used to measure their height while normal weighing scales will be used to measure their weight. The study will present descriptive statistics to exhibit the distribution for weight, age and gender, categories and will also conduct demographic analyses with the goal of determining whether there exists a difference between unhealthy weight and healthy weight individuals in terms of education level, age, physical health, marital status as well as diet behaviours. To establish the relationship strength between the dependent variables utilised in the analyses as well as the relationship between BMI, gender and age, a Pearson product-moment intercorrelations will be calculated. In this case, the dependent variables will include self-monitoring, self-efficacy, biological influences, beliefs, negative and positive emotions and environmental influences. Subsequently, a multiple regression analysis will be carried out so as to determine the variables that contribute unique variance to Body Mass Index. Permission for the current study was granted by the Southern Adelaide- based educational authorities and the questionnaire will be pre tested by the participants to make sure it is understandable and clear. Recruitment method for this study will mainly involve a while online sources like Twitter and Facebook as well as online support groups such as Daily Strength will be utilised to invite Saudi people to take part in survey. Participants will then be required to follow a PsychData hyperlink, which is software tool for online survey. The tool is considered efficient because it allows a survey to be constructed fast and professionally while the data amasses on PsychData is secure and protected. The collected results will be analysed using SPSS statistical software, version 15.0. Additionally, focus groups will be used to collected data through semi-structured group interview process.  The focus group will involve an organised discussion with a number of Saudi students with the goal of gaining information concerning their experiences and views about obesity. Descriptive statistics will be utilised to investigate the distribution of every variable while correlational analyses will be used to examine BMI predictors. Interview Questions 1. Do you think that obesity is a community problem? 2. Are there any policies proposed or enacted in Saudi Arabia to prevent obesity? 3. Do you think obesity policy efforts within the community have been successful? 4. How can obesity be prevented or reduced in Saudi Arabia 5. Do you consider that lack of physical activity results in Obesity? 6. What do you think is the relationship between active living and obesity? 7. Are there any procedures or policies implemented by the Saudi government to promote physical activity? 8. How can families motivate their children to become more active? 9. Is there a way the society can make a difference with regard to obesity epidemic? 7.0 Conclusion In conclusion, the paper has provided evidence that obesity is a main risk factor for sickness as well as death and it is related to other diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. As mentioned in the paper, obesity is increasing progressively resulting to high health costs that is straining the resources of individuals as well as governments. In Saudi Arabia, many people have adopted the Western lifestyle, which is mainly typified by high caloric intake and reduced physical activity. In consequence, this has resulted in a shocking epidemiological transition, whereby the leading causes of death have shifted to non-communicable diseases from communicable diseases. Acknowledging obesity as a complex issue is a crucial step towards finding solutions that can help address a number of elements and interconnections that bring about obesity. As previously indicated, systems thinking offers a solution to addressing health problems in real world and complex settings. Therefore, it is imperative to shift the paradigms around factors that bring about obesity so as to generate a health care system capable of promoting collaborative and innovative practice for persons handling obesity as well as healthcare practitioners. As mentioned in the literature review, although the behaviour change of a person plays a crucial role in the management of obesity, having a health care team that is effective is crucial for ensuring obese people get guidance, advice and support they require so as to improve their health status. As evidenced in the paper, despite numerous frameworks and approaches to prevent and reduce obesity, it still remains to be a challenging medical condition. Based on the current knowledge it can be argued that most effective approach to obesity is prevention and it is the responsibility of the clinicians to address weight control amongst obese patients. A number of approaches used to reduce or prevent obesity as discussed in this paper include: the low-calorie diets, wireless body area networks, Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity framework, Bariatric Surgery and physical activity. 8.0 References Ahmed, H.G. et al., 2014. Prevalence of Obesity in Hail Region, KSA: In a Comprehensive Survey. Journal of Obesity, vol. 1, pp.1-5. Al-Dossary, S.S. et al., 2010. Obesity in Saudi children: a dangerous reality. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, vol. 16, no. 9, pp.1003-08. Al-Malki, J., Al-Jaser, M. & Warsy, A., 2003. Overweight and obesity in Saudi females of childbearing age. International Journal of Obesity, vol. 27, pp.134–39. Almuhanna, M.A., Alsaif, M., Alsaadi, M. & (1, A.A., 2014. Fast food intake and prevalence of obesity in school children in Riyadh City. Search Results, vol. 14, no. 1, pp.71-80. Al-Qahtani, A., Al-Al-Ghamdi, R. & Al-Ghamdi, K., 2013. Childhood obesity: Prevalence, risk factors and lifestyle behaviour among primary school male children in Al- Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health, vol. 2, no. 4, pp.1058-62. Alrajeh, N.A., Lloret, J. & Canovas, A., 2014. A Framework for Obesity Control Using a Wireless Body Sensor Network. International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, vol. 1, pp.1-6. Alwan, İ.A., Fattani, A.A. & Longford, N., 2013. The Effect of Parental Socioeconomic Class on Children’s Body Mass Indices. Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology, vol. 5, no. 2, pp.110-15. Aoyama, A., 1999. Toward a Virtuous Circle: A Nutrition Review of the Middle East and North Africa. Washington Dc: World Bank Publications. Binrsheed, A.M., 2013. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Saudi primary school students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. American Journal of Research Communication, vol. 1, no. 12, pp.83-103. Birch, D.L., Savage, J.S. & Ventura, A., 2007. Influences on the Development of Children's Eating Behaviours: From Infancy to Adolescence. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research Impact , vol. 68, no. 1, pp.s1–s56. Cohen, A.K., Rai, M., Rehkopf, D.H. & Abrams, B., 2014. Educational attainment and obesity: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews , vol. 14, no. 12, pp. 989–1005. Daştan, İ. & Delice, E., 2015. A Review of Global Childhood Obesity Epidemic and Potential Determinants. Izmir Review of Social Sciences, vol. 2, no. 2, pp.57-71. DeNicola, E. et al., 2015. Obesity and public health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 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Review of Evidence-Based Strategies to Treat Obesity in Adults. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, vol. 26, pp.512-25. Memish, Z.A. et al., 2014. Obesity and Associated Factors — Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013. Preventing Chronic Disease , vol. 11, pp.1-10. Musaiger, A.O., 2011. Overweight and Obesity in Eastern Mediterranean Region: Prevalence and Possible Causes. Journal of Obesity, vol. 1, pp.1-17. Saleh, D.A.A., 2013. Prevalence’s of Overweight and Obesity among Saudi Children. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), vol. 6, no. 14, pp.765-69. Thomas, R.K., 2015. In Sickness and In Health: Disease and Disability in Contemporary America. New York: Springer. Appendix Questionnaire Obesity in Saudi Arabia Name Age Marital Status 1. Do you consider Yourself a) Obese b) Overweight c) Normal weight d) Underweight 2. Are concerned with people being overweight a) Not at all Concerned b) Not Really Concerned c) Concerned d) Very Concerned 3. Eating habits and lack of physical activity is the main cause of Obesity 4. What currently are you doing to reduce weight or improve your health a. More cardio exercise b. Eating Foods that are health c. Dieting d. others Explain: 5. Do you consider your eating habits healthy? explain 6. What’s your level of education? 7. What’s your Weight and height? Read More