title: Knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of dental students towards obesity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obesity is a chronic medical condition associated with various oral health problems. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of dental students towards obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Second-, third-, and fourth-year dental students completed a self-administered questionnaire. An ethics committee approved the study. Participants were asked questions focused on three areas: (i) knowledge, (ii) perceptions, and (iii) attitudes about obesity. Data analyses were carried out using SPSS version 20.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the dental students, 78.9% received 0-1 h of formal education about obesity. The mean score of the total time allocated for obesity-related education was 1.31 ± 0.23 h. Eighty-nine percent of the dental students agreed that obesity is a chronic medical condition, 30% agreed that they would modify their equipment and office furniture to accommodate obese patients, and 46.8% were interested in learning more about obesity in dental school.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity-related education should be implemented as a formal component of dental student training. Oral health practitioners should also provide their patients with information about how weight loss is beneficial to both general and oral health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine & Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Awan
authors.affiliation: Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Abadeen
authors.affiliation: Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Khalid
keywords: Dental students; Knowledge; Obesity; Questionnaire study