Vascular Risk Factors Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Metabolic Syndrome Among Adult Kuwaitis: Results From Community-based National Survey

sity are cardiovascular risk factors, little systematically collected community-based data are available from the Arabian Gulf region.Methods:We report a nationwide cross-sectional study from Kuwait. A random sample was selected. Demographic and clinical data were col-lected. Blood tests including fasting blood glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were collected. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to International Diabetes Federation cri-teria. Overweight and obesity were defined as body mass index 25, and body mass index 30, respec-tively. Results: Prevalence of overweight, obesity, and metabolic syndrome in adult Kuwaiti population were 80.4%, 47.5%, and 36.2%, respectively. Overweight and obesity rates were higher in women 81.9 % and 53 % compared to men 78 % and 39.2%, respectively (P .02, P>.001). MetS was equally distributed between men and women at 36.2 % and 36.1%. Conclusions: Prevalence of overweight, obesity, and metabolic syndrome is alarmingly high in Kuwait. This requires urgent and active community-based public health intervention