An Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude Toward Obesity among a Sample of Colleges Students in Karbala Province, Iraq
Abstract
Background: Obesity is a serious public health concern worldwide, and it is becoming more common worldwide as dietary habits and physical activities change. Coronary artery disease, hypertension, cholelithiasis, and diabetes are all known to be associated with obesity. Young people as a part of the community and the proportion of their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding obesity may lead to positive reflections on the community (at least for their families). Thus, understanding young individuals’ viewpoints and beliefs is crucial. Therefore, to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate students toward obesity in Karbala Province, a cross-sectional study was conducted. Methodology: A sample of undergraduate students was recruited to identify their knowledge of and attitudes toward obesity from November to April 2022. The study included 444 participants who were selected using a simple random sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire was used to achieve the aim of the study that contained two parts: the first part was demographic characteristics, the second part was used to assess the knowledge, and the researchers, according to WHO criteria designed attitude, the questionnaire after being presented to the experts. Result: Of the total sample of the study 284(64%) were female and 160 (36%) were male; 59.9 % of the participants were in the aged group ≤ 20 years. As for the overall assessment of obesity knowledge level, 54 % had Good and Acceptable scores. Nevertheless, more than 86% of respondents had positive attitude scores. Conclusion: Through the results, it was observed that there was a fairly good awareness of obesity (54%). There was also a very noticeable, clearly serious desire to increase toward a positive attitude of 86% toward obesity reduction among the college students in Karbala province, Iraq.
Keywords: Obesity, knowledge, attitude, college students
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