Abstract
The prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in developed countries than in developing countries of all ages (data from 2013). This study is aimed at assessing the knowledge and attitudes of people in Saudi Arabia toward bariatric surgery. To do this, the specific objectives sought to determine the satisfaction of people who underwent bariatric surgery and to determine the importance of bariatric surgery among the community. Methods: The study is a cross-sectional, community-based study conducted among the Saudi adult population. The final sample size was 891 respondents from different regions of Saudi Arabia. Data collection was through online questionnaires that consisted of 26 questions to assess the perceived knowledge and attitudes toward obesity and bariatric surgery adopted from Abouhamda (2016). Results: More than 70% of the study participants were aged between 18 and 25 years. There were more males than there were females 76.0% versus 24.0%, while most of the respondents were living single. The proportion of respondents across listed regions of Saudi Arabia significantly varied at a 5% level (P = 0.000). Sixty percent of the study respondents were within the normal weight range (BMI 18.5-25), 9% were marked as obese (BMI >30). Age group was not significantly associated with knowledge of quantization and perceived the knowledge that quantization can cause death (P > 0.05 in both cases). Conclusion: The knowledge about obesity in Saudi Arabia is generally good and most Saudis would rather take the approach of proper diet as opposed to surgery, with the bigger percentage being in the normal range (BMI 18.5-25).