The consequences of obesity on physical health are well established, but the impact on psychological well being is less clear. Obesity is a stigmatized condition, and obese individuals face social exclusion and discrimination in many areas of their lives. Adults label the obese as lazy, ugly and stupid, and weight related teasing is commonplace. Consequently, it has been assumed that obese people will experience poor psychological as well as physical health (17).
There is an extensive literature on body image in young people, driven largely by concerns about excessive weight concern and dieting in girls. In a review of the literature published in 2001, Ricciardelli and McCabe concluded that there are consistent findings of a relationship between body mass index and body dissatisfaction in children, particularly in girls(17).
The average age of the participants was between 18 and 38 years. Majority of participants were in the age group (18-22y). However, study done by Hussainet al., at region of Hail showed that the peaks for all obesity categories were at middle age 41–55 years, followed by age range 26–40 years(1).
Moreover, our result showed that more than half of the participants (68.9%) were single, this could be explained by the fact that majority of students in the universities at KSA are single (Table 1).