KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS OBESITY AMONG MALE SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TAIF, SAUDI ARABIA

Background: The number of obsess subjects is especially bad in the Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia because of the rapid pace of social and economic changes over the last few decades. However, there is a gap in knowledge that necessitates the need to investigate the knowledge and attitude of obesity among adolescent. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of obesity among male secondary school students in Taf city and to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding obesity prevention. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Taif among a representative random sample of male secondary school students. A valid data-collection questionnaire was used including four parts; personal characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and student’ practices to prevent and control obesity questions. Weight (in kg) and height in meter of each student were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI). Results: Out of 278 male secondary school students invited to participate in the study, 251 returned completed questionnaire giving a response rate of 89.9%. Their age ranged between 15 and 19 years with a mean of 17.7 years and standard deviation of 1.8 years. Majority of the students were Saudi (92.4%). Obesity knowledge was good in 12% of students, fair in 59% and bad in 29% of them. Knowledge regarding obesity was more reported among students whose fathers are professionals (21.2%) than students whose fathers are not working (5%) or working in business and trading (5.3%). The difference was statistically significant, p<0.001. Similarly, good obesity knowledge was more reported among students whose mothers are working compared to those whose mothers are house wives (21% versus 9%), p<0.001. Also, good knowledge about obesity was more significantly reported among students whose fathers and/or mothers are high educated, p<0.001. More than half of male teachers (55.8%) had positive attitude towards obesity. Saudi students expressed more positive attitude towards obesity compared to negative attitude (57.8% versus 31.6%), p=0.027. Positive attitude towards obesity was more reported among students whose fathers are professionals (77.3%) than students whose fathers are not working (10%). The difference was statistically significant, p<0.001. Also, positive attitude towards obesity was more significantly reported among students whose fathers and/or mothers are high educated, p<0.001. Normal subjects had more positive attitude towards obesity compared to obese subjects (76.8% versus 21.4%), p<0.001. Almost one-third of the students (37.1%) tried to loss their body weight. Among them, 79.6% practiced physical exercise to lose weight while 39.8 reduced their food intake to lose weight. Only 17.2% of students went to weighting loss clubs. Among students who tried to loss their weight, 59.1 % claimed that they succeeded in that. Conclusion: Students` knowledge of obesity ranged between fair and poor particularly in obesity–related diseases. A considerable proportion of them have negative attitude towards obesity.