Bodyweight and obesity perceptions among adults in Bahrain

One-third of the Bahraini population is classified as obese; however, research on the public perceptions of obesity in the country is limited.

This study evaluated perceptions of obesity among adults attending public healthcare clinics in Bahrain.

This cross-sectional, observational study combined questionnaires from 2 previously published obesity surveys to obtain data on the anthropometric measurements of weight and height from 356 participants in Bahrain. The combined questionnaire was administered to adults attending 8 randomly selected, geographically distributed public healthcare centres from the 4 governorates of Bahrain. The data was then analysed using SPSS version 25.

Overall obesity prevalence among the participants was 41.4%. Participants with normal or higher body mass index more often believed that obesity was a lifestyle choice and a risk factor rather than a disease. Conversely, underweight respondents more often perceived obesity as a disease. Of the obese participants, only 49% perceived themselves as obese and 49% perceived themselves as slightly overweight. Sixty-five percent thought that their overall health was good to very good. The older the overweight participants were, the less likely were they to perceive themselves as overweight. Of all the respondents, 45.8% perceived obesity as a disease.

Despite public acknowledgement of obesity as a health risk, many (46.4%) of our study participants did not perceive it as a disease. There is a need for targeted national programmes to educate the older and younger populations in Bahrain about the implications for health of overweight and obesity and how to prevent or control them early.