al-Shammari S A, Khoja T A, al-Subaie A S
Department of Family and Community Medicine, King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Fam Pract Res J. 1994 Jun;14(2):149-56.
To assess differences in body weights among various nationalities living in Riyadh and find out the effect of sociodemographic characteristics of participants on their attitudes towards body weight.
In May and June of 1992, 4144 health center patients of various nationalities in Riyadh were surveyed about their attitudes towards the overweight. A survey of attitudes of 4144 health center participants of various nationalities in Riyadh towards the overweight were conducted during May-June 1992. Fifteen health centers representing the five arbitrarily divided sections of Riyadh (North, South, East, West, and Central) participated in the study. Every third patient was included if he or she satisfied the criteria. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire and to have their height and weight recorded. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated for all patients and their opinions about their weights were compared with the BMI.
Obesity was more common among other Arabs (43.8%) and Saudis (36.4%) than Indians (27.6%) and Westerners (30.1%). Female subjects were more obese than their male counterparts in all nationalities. The body weights increased with age, fewer physical activities, low levels of education, and marital status. All these differences were statistically significant. When comparing positive predictive value of the opinion of the participants with their BMI, it was found that the Indians (87.2%) were less likely to be correct when they judge their degree of overweight than Saudis (92.2%), Westerners (92.8%), and other Arabs (95.4%). However, positive predictive values varied with the participants sociodemographic characteristics.
The findings in the present study of higher proportion of patients with obesity in the study group stresses the importance of promoting programs aimed at preventing or reducing obesity in the community.
评估居住在利雅得的不同国籍人群的体重差异，并了解参与者的社会人口学特征对其体重态度的影响。
1992年5月和6月，对利雅得4144名不同国籍的健康中心患者进行了关于超重态度的调查。1992年5月至6月期间，对利雅得4144名不同国籍的健康中心参与者进行了超重态度调查。代表利雅得任意划分的五个区域（北部、南部、东部、西部和中部）的15个健康中心参与了研究。每第三名符合标准的患者被纳入研究。参与者被要求填写一份问卷，并记录他们的身高和体重。计算所有患者的体重指数（BMI），并将他们对自己体重的看法与BMI进行比较。
肥胖在其他阿拉伯人（43.8%）和沙特人（36.4%）中比印度人（27.6%）和西方人（30.1%）中更为常见。在所有国籍中，女性受试者比男性受试者更肥胖。体重随着年龄、体力活动减少、教育水平低和婚姻状况而增加。所有这些差异均具有统计学意义。当将参与者意见的阳性预测值与其BMI进行比较时，发现印度人（87.2%）判断自己超重程度时正确的可能性低于沙特人（92.2%）、西方人（92.8%）和其他阿拉伯人（95.4%）。然而，阳性预测值因参与者的社会人口学特征而异。
本研究中研究组肥胖患者比例较高的结果强调了在社区推广旨在预防或减少肥胖的项目的重要性。
