KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS TOWARD OBESITY COUNSELING IN CLUSTER ONE, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

Background: Because of the influence of culture and the fact that obesity is a new phenomenon caused by changing lifestyles, many physicians in Riyadh are not sufficiently empowered to provide thenecessary services to their clients. This study will identify the gaps in family physicians knowledge, attitude, and practice in Riyadh and recommend ways to design training programs in areas of knowledge, attitude, and practice when dealing with obesity and overweight cases. Methodology:This study is a cross-sectional study to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of family physicians regarding obesity counseling in family practice centers, cluster one, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The sample and data were collected by a pre-tested questionnaire and analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) method Results: The majority of the respondents depend on the waist circumference to diagnose obesity with 100% among the family physicians. The majority of the respondents think that obesity is a major health problem in Saudi Arabia with 125 (96.08%). Almost all family physicians (92.1%) agreed that is it better to have a training course in obesity management and 99 % thought that it is better to include obesity topic in health education program.Moreover, 100 % of the physicians would recommend lifestyle measure to decrease weight of regular physical exercise. Conclusion: Family physicians working in the primary health centers need to improve their knowledge and skills regarding obesity management.