Background: Overweight and obesity are major public health issues. Saudi Arabia is considered among the nations with the highest overweight and obesity prevalence rates. Thus, this study aimed to assess how overweight and obesity affect the quality of life (QoL) of Taibah University students.
Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted through students’ WhatsApp groups and social media. The Arabic version of the “The World Health Organization quality of Life Brief Questionnaire” was used as a measurement tool to assess QoL. The questionnaire included questions about the sociodemographic data, presence of medical or mental illnesses, and weight and height.
Results: The participants of this study included 739 Taibah University students, both females (80.6%) and males (19.4%). Half of the participants had a normal body mass index (BMI), 18.89% of the participants were underweight, 15.22% were overweight, and 12.36% were obese. Most of the participants were healthy except for 7.3%, who had medical diseases and 4.2% had mental illnesses. Significant statistical differences were found in the psychological, social, and environmental domains between different BMI groups. No statistically significant differences were found in the physical health domain.
Conclusion: There was a significant impairment in the psychological, social, and environmental domains of the QoL of students suffering from overweight and obesity, while no significant impairment was detected in the physical health domain.
Key words: obesity, overweight, body mass index, quality of life, assessment
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