title: Obesity and associated factors--Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data on obesity from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are nonexistent, making it impossible to determine whether the efforts of the Saudi Ministry of Health are having an effect on obesity trends. To determine obesity prevalence and associated factors in the KSA, we conducted a national survey on chronic diseases and their risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We interviewed 10,735 Saudis aged 15 years or older (51.1% women) through a multistage survey. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, health-related habits and behaviors, diet, physical activity, chronic diseases, access to and use of health care, and anthropometric measurements were collected through computer-assisted personal interviews. We first compared sociodemographic factors and body mass index between men and women. Next, we conducted a sex-specific analysis for obesity and its associated factors using backward elimination multivariate logistic regression models. We used SAS 9.3 for the statistical analyses and to account for the complex sampling design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 10,735 participants evaluated, 28.7% were obese (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m(2)). Prevalence of obesity was higher among women (33.5% vs 24.1%). Among men, obesity was associated with marital status, diet, physical activity, diagnoses of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension. Among women, obesity was associated with marital status, education, history of chronic conditions, and hypertension.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity remains strongly associated with diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension in the KSA, although the epidemic's characteristics differ between men and women.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Assadah, Al Murabba Riyadh 12613, Saudi Arabia. Email:zmemish@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ziad A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Memish
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Charbel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: El Bcheraoui
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Marwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tuffaha
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Farah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Daoud
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jaber
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mikhitarian
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Assadah, Al Murabba Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al Saeedi
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Assadah, Al Murabba Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammad A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: AlMazroa
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Ali H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Mokdad
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Assadah, Al Murabba Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdullah A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Al Rabeeah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult