Lifestyle Habits in Relation to Overweight and Obesity among Saudi Women Attending Health Science Colleges

The study examined the associations between lifestyle habits and overweight/obesity among Saudi females attending health science colleges. A total of 454 female students were randomly recruited from five health science colleges at King Saud University, using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. Body weight and height were measured, and body mass index was calculated. All participants answered a validated questionnaire to assess physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviors (SB), sleep duration, and dietary habits. Results showed that the prevalence of overweight (21.4%) plus obesity (8.1%) among female participants was 29.5%. There was no significant difference between overweight/obese and nonoverweight/nonobese females in PA, screen time, sleep duration, or dietary habits. Overall, 50.4% of the participants were physically inactive (activity energy expenditure was <600 metabolic equivalent minutes per week). Active females showed significantly (p < 0.01) higher intakes of vegetables and fruits, lower chocolate/candy consumption (p = 0.05), and higher proportion of sufficient sleeping duration (>8 hours per night) (p < 0.001). It was concluded that half of the Saudi females in this study were physically inactive. Although PA positively impacted some of the lifestyle habits of college females, overweight/obesity was not associated with PA, SB, sleeping time, or dietary habits among the participants. Future research should attempt to elucidate the key factors involved in such relationship. (C) 2018 Atlantis Press International B.V.