PARENTAL SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND OCCUPATION IN RELATION TO CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Background: Obesity is regarded as a substantial public health issue all around the world. The frequency of obesity has been differed potentially from country to country according to the socio-economic levels. Environmental approaches along with population-based social strategies should be considered as effective initiatives to reduce the increasing incidence of obesity. Objectives: To assess the association between parental socioeconomic status, occupation, and educational level in relation to childhood obesity. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted including children in Jeddah city and they were all classified as obese. For this study, 384 children were recruited for this research. The sample was collected at various ambulatory endocrine clinics from May 2017 until August 2017. Obese children between 3-18 years were included in the study while those who are more than 18 or less than 3 years old were excluded. Results: The "mean body mass index (BMI)" of male children (26.6 +/- 3.93 kg/m2) is higher than BMI of female children (24.6 +/- 4.02 kg/m2). The prevalence rate of obesity in males and females were 55.5% and 44.5% respectively. Taking into consideration the nationality of the children, 76.4% of the participants were Saudi nationals whereas 23.6% were had different nationalities. Approximately, 63.7% of the participants were with their fathers having college degree are overweight while 61.1% of them are obese, indicated as the p value=0.511. Moreover, among 50.7% of the participants whose mothers had a college degree are overweight while 54.4% of them are obese (p value = 0.081). On the other hand, about 75.3% children of unemployed mothers are overweight, while 54.6% are obese (p value= 0.058). Around 89.7% children of employed fathers are overweight, while 84.7% are obese (p value= 0.205). Finally, approximately 47.4% children were more likely to be obese with families of high income, while 43.8% of them with medium family income are overweight (p value= 0.0001). Conclusion: The rate of overweight and obesity among Saudi children are higher than non-Saudi children. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were higher with high educational levels of parents, high family income, and increases among children of employed fathers.