Prevalence and comorbidities of self-reported physician-diagnosed obesity among adults attending primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional survey.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of self-reported physician-diagnosed obesity and identify its risk factors among adults attending primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to July 2023. Participants aged 18 years or older attending 48 randomly selected primary healthcare centers were recruited using a multistage sampling approach, involving random selection of primary healthcare centers followed by systematic random sampling of attendees. Obesity status was defined based on self-reported prior physician diagnosis of obesity, collected using a validated questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors independently associated with obesity. Results: A total of 14,239 adults participated in the study. The prevalence of self-reported physician-diagnosed obesity was 5.2% (95% CI: 4.9-5.6). Males were 30% less likely to be obese than females (AOR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.60-0.86), while smokers were more than twice as likely to be obese compared to non-smokers (AOR: 2.37; 95% CI: 1.94-2.89). Fast food consumers higher odds of obesity (AOR: 1.61; 95% CI: 1.24-2.09). Obesity was also positively associated with diabetes (AOR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.15-1.89), hypertension (AOR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.23-2.09), hypercholesterolemia (AOR: 4.36; 95% CI: 3.43-5.55), and heart disease (AOR: 4.46; 95% CI: 3.47-5.74). Conclusion: Self-reported physician-diagnosed obesity was significantly associated with behavioral and cardiometabolic risk factors among adults attending primary healthcare centers. These findings highlight the importance of early identification and integrated management of obesity-related comorbidities in primary care settings.