Arabic Coffee Consumption and Its Correlation to Obesity Among the General Population in the Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Aim This study aims to assess the relationship between Arabic coffee consumption and obesity among the Saudi adult population. Subjects and methods This is a cross-sectional study conducted among the population living in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among the general population using an online survey. The questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and different parameters to assess the factors associated with Arabic coffee consumption. Results Three hundred eighty-nine participants were involved (57.1% females vs 42.9% males). Obese respondents constitute 33.7%. More than half of the total (53.5%) drink coffee daily. Our results revealed that there were statistically significant associations between the overall level of BMI according to the frequency of drinking coffee per day (p<0.001), number of cups drank per day (p=0.006), favorite additives for coffee such as milk (p=0.017), cardamom (p=0.017), other calorie additives (p=0.050) and eating chocolate while drinking coffee (p=0.034). Increased odds of consumption of Arabic coffee were predicted among female, married, overweight, and those who were eating dates while drinking Arabic coffee. Conclusion This study concluded that excessive consumption of Arabic coffee was predicted to have a direct association with obesity specifically in female and when mixed with additives including milk, cardamom, and other calorie additives. Furthermore, the odds of obesity tend to increase more when eating chocolate and dates along with coffee. Awareness campaigns are necessary to educate the community about the detrimental effect of unwarranted consumption of Arabic coffee mixed with food or additives.