Saudi Arabian dental students' knowledge and beliefs regarding obesity in children and adults

The objectives of this study were to determine knowledge/beliefs of a group of Saudi Arabian dental students regarding overweight/obesity (OW/OB). Dental students (fourth-year, fifth-year, and interns) at King Saud University College of Dentistry completed an anonymous questionnaire regarding OW/OB in children and adults. Frequency distribution and chi-square analyses were done. The total respondents were 260 (response rate=87 percent), most of whom were male (59 percent). Half of the respondents reported their knowledge of OW/OB in adults/children to be average, with knowledge of pediatric OW/OB rated lower (37 percent reported it as fair/poor) than adult OW/OB (17 percent reported it as fair/poor). Only a third (34 percent) of the respondents selected body mass index (BMI) as the best method to identify OW/OB. More than half of the respondents correctly believed that OW/OB was a problem in many adults/children in Saudi Arabia. A slightly higher proportion endorsed a role for dentists in the identification/prevention of OW/OB in children (76 percent) as compared to adults (69 percent). Female respondents had better knowledge than males about OW/OB and were more likely to correctly select BMI as the best method for identifying OW/OB. These findings may provide support for the expansion of education in these areas in the dental curriculum.