ages 5–9 years, by sex, 1975–2016

FIGURE 2.3

Crude prevalence of overweight and obesity among Saudi Arabian children ages 5–9 years, by sex, 1975–2016

Percent 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016

Both genders (overweight) Both genders (obesity) Women (overweight) Women (obesity) Men (overweight) Men (obesity)

Source: WHO 2020. Note: Crude prevalence is calculated as the percentage of a defined population with a BMI greater than 1 (overweight) or 2 (obesity) standard deviations above the median according to the World Health Organization’s child growth standards. The prevalence of overweight is sum of the prevalence of obesity and the prevalence of overweight.

15.4 percent among girls 5–9 years of age in 2016 and confirmed that boys in Saudi Arabia have a significantly higher BMI than girls (Al-Agha and Mahjoub 2018; Al-Hazzaa et al. 2020).

The prevalence of both overweight and obesity is rising among children and adolescents ages 10–19 years. The crude prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents ages 10–19 years was 35.1 percent, while obesity was 16.7 percent in 2016 (figure 2.4). Mean BMI increased by 5.7 percent among children between 2000 and 2016. Overweight and obesity rates were higher and increased faster among male than female children and adolescents ages 10–19 years. The historical data illustrate that the sex gap in overweight prevalence reversed early in the 2000s; the prevalence is now higher among males than females. The crude prevalence of obesity reached 19.0 percent in male and 13.6 percent in female children and adolescents in 2016. Recent cross-sectional studies found an even higher prevalence of obesity of 17.6–20.2 percent among schoolchildren (Al-Hussaini et al. 2019) and 27.0 percent among male adolescents (Alazzeh et al. 2018), confirming that male adolescents have significantly higher BMI than female adolescents in Saudi Arabia (Al-Hazzaa and Albawardi 2019). The proportion of adolescents having a waist-to-height ratio above 0.50 was 33.1 percent, with significant differences between male (36.0 percent) and female adolescents (30.3 percent) (Al-Hazzaa and Albawardi 2019).

Obesity in overweight population

Among all age groups, the prevalence of obesity is continuously increasing in the overweight population of Saudi Arabia. There are more and more people with obesity in the overweight population of Saudi Arabia (figure 2.5). The prevalence of adults with obesity has surpassed half of the population of adults with a BMI of 25 kg/m2 or higher. The same applies for the population of children