Causes of Obesity and Burden of Obesity in Saudi Arabia
The Burden of Obesity
The occurrence of weight problems has hugely increased in Saudi Arabia at some point in the period 1988-2005 among adolescents. By the National Growth study, the incidence of obesity in the youth and the children, with the age range between 5-12 years, reached up to 11.3%. Females are observed to get influenced through the rising tiers of obesity as 11.0% and males with an obesity charge of 7.8% (Memish, El Bcheraoui, Tuffaha, Robinson, Daoud, Jaber & Al Rabeeah, 2014). These facts suggest that the woman toddler aged 5-12 years is more affected by weight gain compared to the male child. On the other hand, the adult males (13.8%) below the age of 13-18 years are more affected by weight gain compared women (12.1%) in a similar age category (Memish et al., 2014).
The important cause of obesity and overweight are the imbalances of the internal human physique physiology between calories eaten and the calories used up by the body. The reasons behind the rising stages of weight problems in accordance to the WHO is the expanded consumption of energy-giving ingredients inclusive of greater quantities of fats, elevated urbanization, changing dietary and bodily exercise patterns, lack of policy implementation in health, city planning, agriculture transport, manufacturing of food, processing, and distribution, marketing, etc (Prentice, 2005).
The rising levels of obesity could be connected to enlarge the non-communicable diseases; diabetes and cardiovascular disorders, musculoskeletal issues and some kinds of cancer. These ailments are also increasing the ranges of mortality throughout the globe. The dangers of the endometrial, ovarian, breast, liver and prostate cancers are also increasing due to the rising levels of obesity. These are responsible for making bigger the stages of BMI, and the obese teenager’s journey respiratory troubles accelerated the inclination of fractures, hypertension, and cardiovascular disorders (Prentice, 2005). The accelerated stages of weight problems and as a consequence, the rising stages of non-communicating illnesses are further elevating the healthcare costs and the burden, in the low to middle-income communities. These expanded healthcare expenses are also increasing the challenges for world economies. The adolescents throughout the low-income to middle-income countries are now extra inclined to inappropriate pre-natal, toddler and young infant nutrition. Poor nutrition alongside with the decrease amounts of physical recreation is threatening the fitness of the young people throughout these economies.
Causes of Obesity
The rising levels of obesity are grabbing attention across the globe frequently because the levels of obesity are similarly related to non-communicable diseases. Non-Communicable diseases encompass cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, osteoarthritis, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and some types of cancers. However, obesity is an ailment that should be managed through great strategies and preventive measures. Through the management of obesity, the non-communicable burden of illnesses may also be similarly decreased and controlled. Therefore, the modern-day research is aimed at investigating and developing high quality techniques and preventive measures that could assist the population of Saudi Arabia in managing the ranges of the rising obesity and taking measures to manipulate the rising healthcare prices and burden of diseases. Indeed, this investigation will focus on the root causes of obesity among the Saudis (Al-Almaie, 2005).
Nutritional habits
Food consumption patterns are expected to change across the globe with financial development. For instance, in KSA, the daily per capita consumption of fats has improved up to 143%, and at the identical time, the decline in the strength expenditure has been evidenced in Saudi Arabia. The meals have become extra cheap for the people. Moreover, an expansion in consumption of the unhealthy food has been adopted by way of the nearby people as influenced by way of the social changes experienced in Saudi Arabia. Much evidently, a shift from the traditional to the western fast food products has been apparent in Saudi Arabia. Human beings are extra inclined to devour unhealthy meals and carbonated drinks that are tons well-known across young people and adolescents. The adolescent’s uptake of fast foods was associated with decrease intakes of fruits, veggies, and milk in contrast to the non-obese kids dwelling in Saudi Children.
Lifestyle variables
The second variable that serves as the determinant of rising levels of obesity in Saudi Arabia is the lifestyle variable. Saudi Arabian humans are more celebrated routine to adopt sedentary lifestyles. The socio-economic fame of the Saudi residents is found to enhance alongside which the humans are more prone to purchase motors for the cause of transportation. The teenagers instead of going out are the use of extra of the indoor games, watch television, and play less in the open fields. Due to such reasons, the degree of physical recreation is determined to decline amongst young teenagers and the outcome they reap weight and get obese. Another sub-factor of the way of life variable is ‘sleeping.’ The study by DeNicola, Aburizaiza, Siddique, Khwaja, & Carpenter (2015) showed that the odds of normal weight had been evidenced in the adolescents who used to sleep extra in comparison to those that had a shorter length of sleep.
Genetics
Studies have shown that you can inherit a tendency towards obesity. Your danger of being obese increases 25 percentage if one or each of your mother and father is obese. Heredity additionally strongly influences where you carry weight – the hips or around the middle.
Metabolic
How you expend strength differs from how anybody else will. Metabolic and hormonal factors are now not the same for everyone, but these elements play a role in determining weight gain. Recent studies show that stages of ghrelin, a peptide hormone acknowledged modifying appetite, and different peptides in the stomach, play a role in triggering starvation and giving you a feeling of fullness after eating.
Reducing Children’s Obesity in Saudi Arabia
Obesity and overweight health troubles are regarded as preventive. Communities and supportive environments are viewed to play an essential role in this regard. The typical public needs to be influenced to make a choice for the proper meals and increase the tiers of the physical activity. This will similarly help in managing health. The description below reviews the literature that promotes fitness throughout Saudi Arabia and different areas throughout the globe.
Health promotion in Saudi Arabia
To control the rising tiers of the weight problems and obese troubles throughout Saudi Arabia, one strategy is to strengthen health promotional strategies. The health merchandising is regarded to be one important variable of public fitness practice. The Saudi Arabian governments are aware that fitness issues as weight problems are rising throughout the Saudi Arabian population. However, at equal time, policy and strategy integration is located to be fragile. There is an excessive need to assure expanded execution and implementation of the policies and the fitness promotion strategies throughout Saudi Arabia. Physical pastime desires to be multiplied across the Saudi Arabian population. This serves as a barrier for the Saudi Arabian humans mostly, because human beings have busy lives, lack facilities and face hot weather. These carriers want to be managed with the aid of the humans through walking on the floors, in the large rooms they have in their houses and utilization of machines for the physical recreation every time they get time. There should be public health officials who should be mandated to offer dietary education to young and nursing mothers. Body Mass Index of the children should regularly be taken in the neighborhood to prevent overweight in children.
Collaboration and participation of neighborhood
Community participation is regarded as an essential driver of resolving the public issues, planning and evaluating the challenges and then designing high-quality measures to resolve the troubles related to human health and well-being. Ottawa Charter is considered a necessary driver of the community participation and enforces humans to participate in the health and the social machine development processes. Local human beings may also have the possibility to work collaboratively with the community participation applications with governments, agencies and groups. This helps in developing health cognizance and helps accomplish health dreams and objectives. The fitness problems as obesity underneath the Saudi Arabian context can be resolved by way of involving the Islamic values and considering the social and cultural norms.
References
Al-Almaie, S. (2005). Knowledge of healthy diets among adolescents in eastern Saudi Arabia. Annals of Saudi medicine, 25(4), 294.
DeNicola, E., Aburizaiza, O. S., Siddique, A., Khwaja, H., & Carpenter, D. O. (2015). Obesity and public health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Reviews on environmental health, 30(3), 191-205.
Memish, Z. A., El Bcheraoui, C., Tuffaha, M., Robinson, M., Daoud, F., Jaber, S., … & Al Rabeeah, A. A. (2014). Peer reviewed: obesity and associated factors—Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013. Preventing chronic disease, 11.
Prentice, A. M. (2005). The emerging epidemic of obesity in developing countries. International journal of epidemiology, 35(1), 93-99.