Knowledge and attitudes of university female students toward obesity.

A cross-sectional study on 203 university female students aged eighteen to thirty years was carried out to determine their knowledge and attitudes toward obesity. The findings revealed that most of the girls believed that overeating (53%) or overeating in addition to inactivity (26.1%) are the main causes of obesity. However, 50 percent of the girls reported that they did not know the health complications of obesity. In general, attitudes toward certain food fads related to obesity was found to be unsatisfactory. Only 50 percent of the girls knew their height compared to 76 percent who knew their weight. Body-weight perception was found to be inaccurate in 30 percent of girls with acceptable weight, while 80 percent of overweight girls considered themselves obese. Magazines and television are the main sources of nutrition information for these girls. Intervention programs to correct the food fads and change the food habits of adolescent girls are highly recommended.