Fast food intake and prevalence of obesity in school children in Riyadh City

Childhood obesity has become a new challenge for healthcare providers. The issue is not limited to certain parts of the world; its prevalence is increasing worldwide. The causes of obesity are poorly understood and continue to be debated and studied. It is a multifactorial disorder which involves dietary, behavioral, environmental as well as genetic factors. The increased consumption of more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, combined with reduced physical activity, have led to high obesity rates among children. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of dietary intake on the occurrence of childhood obesity, and study other associated factors including the education, occupation and income of parents and the living status. Normal healthy school girls (n =196) and school boys (n = 85) between the age of 6- 15 were recruited for the study. We found that obesity among children in Riyadh City was significantly associated with fast food intake (p = 0.0280). It was also observed that 72.5% of the overweight or obese students consumed fast food at least 4 times/week, and the other 15.9% were taking fast food 1- 3 times/week, while only 11.6% of the same overweight or obese group did not consume any fast food/ week. Father's and mother's occupations were not significantly correlated to their children's body weight. The prevalence of childhood obesity is changing and increasing yearly and is attributed to the nutritional risk factors for the Saudi school-age children. It is interesting to know that most of overweight or obese school students belonged to the families of highincome. Parents must take necessary precautions for the diet of their children and should adopt healthy life style in order to prevent or manage obesity of their children.