Study of hemoglobin level and body mass index among preparatory year female students at Taibah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To study the pattern of hemoglobin level and relation to BMI among preparatory year female students, Taibah University, Almadinah Almunawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted between 1st of April to end of May 2012. A structured questionnaire was distributed to the target students, Hb levels and BMI were estimated. Results: More than three quarters (87.2%) were of normal or under weight, compared to 10.9% who were overweight and 1.9% who were obese. Nearly one third (32.2%) of the students were anemic; where 45.7% had normal BMI. Nearly half of the students (49.3%) were significantly consuming fresh vegetables and fruits less than once per week (p = 0.002), 26.5% were consuming red meat once per day, 29.4% and 27.5% were consuming legumes and fast food, respectively once per week. One fourth (25.1%) of the students were consuming soft drinks more than once per day and milk products were consumed also once per day by 30.8% of the students. Conclusion: Anemia was prevalent among female university students (32.2%). However, it was interesting to find that 46.0% were of normal weight and 41.2% were of underweight. This reflected a change on the trend of obesity among this group of young Saudi females that could be related to the increased awareness by the ideal physical appearance and health benefits of weight control.