Overweight and obesity among adolescents in Saudi Arabia: a multi-school cross-sectional study

Kutbi, Hebah A.; Mumena, Walaa A.

doi:10.1186/s12887-025-05633-5

BMC Pediatrics

Table 2 Associations of adolescents’ overweight/obesity status with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors^a

From: Overweight and obesity among adolescents in Saudi Arabia: a multi-school cross-sectional study

Characteristics	Overweight/obesity to reference category
	Total sample			Boys			Girls
	OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI
	OR	Lower	*Upper*	OR	Lower	*Upper*	OR	Lower	*Upper*
Adolescent characteristics
Sex
Boys	1.00 [reference category]			N/A–	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Girls	0.65	0.31	1.33	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Age in years
11–12	1.00 [reference category]
13–14	0.65	0.36	1.17	0.48	0.12	1.93	0.60	0.18	2.01
15–16	0.61	0.31	1.18	0.65	0.29	1.43	0.32	0.05	1.94
17–18	0.48	0.19	1.20	0.37	0.08	1.77	0.24	0.05	1.09
Nationality
Saudi	0.37*	0.17	0.83	0.38*	0.15	0.98	0.26	0.07	1.06
Non-Saudi	1.00 [reference category]
Screen time per day
≤ 2 h	2.10	0.64	6.91	5.05	0.65	39.0	1.23	0.70	2.17
> 2 h	1.00 [reference category]
Fast-food consumption per week
≤ 2 times	1.00 [reference category]
> 2 times	0.99	0.50	1.94	1.34	0.51	3.51	0.46	0.20	1.05
Diet quality
Quartile 1	0.91	0.28	2.99	1.62	0.30	8.70	0.39	0.08	2.03
Quartile 2	1.39	0.49	3.99	2.56	0.59	11.2	0.72	0.17	2.99
Quartile 3	1.21	0.43	3.45	1.77	0.31	10.1	0.69	0.21	2.33
Quartile 4	1.00 [reference category]
Parental characteristics
Maternal age
28–40 years	1.00 [reference category]
41–49 years	1.02	0.52	2.03	0.74	0.33	1.67	1.48	0.37	5.89
≥ 50 years	0.77	0.19	3.06	1.30	0.23	7.53	0.50	0.04	6.25
Maternal education status
≤ High school	0.53	0.09	3.11	0.81	0.07	8.79	0.20	0.03	1.28
College degree	0.69	0.21	2.23	1.41	0.38	5.21	0.25	0.06	1.00
Postgraduate degree	1.00 [reference category]
Maternal employment status
Unemployed	1.35	0.71	2.56	1.79	0.73	4.37	1.41	0.74	2.70
Employed	1.00 [reference category]
Paternal age
28–40 years
41–49 years	1.56	0.73	3.35	1.89	0.79	4.59	1.58	0.36	6.99
≥ 50 years	1.01	0.50	2.03	1.23	0.50	3.02	1.00	0.30	3.35
Paternal education status
≤ High school	2.09	0.50	8.77	1.35	0.25	7.47	4.98	0.28	88.2
College degree	1.48	0.52	4.22	1.49	0.58	3.87	2.46	0.24	25.5
Postgraduate degree	1.00 [reference category]
Paternal employment status
Unemployed	1.01	0.39	2.60	1.44	0.56	3.72	0.90	0.18	4.47
Employed	1.00 [reference category]
Household income in Saudi Riyals
< 6,000	0.35	0.10	1.16	0.24*	0.07	0.86	0.22	0.02	2.56
6,000 to < 11,000	0.50	0.16	1.55	0.44	0.09	2.17	0.26	0.05	1.43
11,000 to < 16,000	0.77	0.29	2.08	0.28	0.06	1.37	0.93	0.22	3.93
16,000 to < 20,000	0.72	0.29	1.79	0.82	0.12	5.81	0.51	0.19	1.36
≥ 20,000	1.00 [reference category]
Family type
Both parents	1.00 [reference category]
Single parents	1.98*	1.02	3.85	2.08	0.79	5.47	1.54	0.43	5.46
Parental Weight Status
Maternal weight status
Overweight	1.63	0.70	3.79	2.28	0.94	5.52	1.17	0.27	5.01
Obesity	2.43*	1.12	5.25	1.56	0.29	8.56	3.06*	1.17	8.01
Underweight/healthy weight	1.00 [reference category]
Paternal weight status
Overweight	1.52	0.94	2.46	1.71	0.91	3.21	1.21	0.64	2.30
Obesity	1.96	0.96	4.00	2.02	0.71	5.76	2.53	0.91	6.98
Underweight/healthy weight	1.00 [reference category]

^* Significant based on 95% confidence intervals
^aORs and CIs are adjusted for complex sampling design. Dependent variable: adolescent overweight or obesity status. Model: (Intercept), adolescent sex (for the total sample) and age, nationality, screen time per day, fast-food consumption per week, dietary quality, parental age, education, and employment status, family income, family type, and parental weight status
BMI Body mass index, CI Confidence interval

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ISSN: 1471-2431

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