Background: Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is viewed as a major public health intervention to reduce the child mortality, particularly, in the neonates and infants. Aims & Objectives: To study the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding exclusive breastfeeding as well as to identify its determinants and explore barriers against it among mothers in Abha City. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was adopted. It included all mothers, who have a child aged 6-12 months, attending primary health care centers within the Abha city. An Arabic validated questionnaire was used for data collection. It comprises 3 parts as follows: personal characteristics, knowledge about breast feeding and attitude toward breastfeeding. Results: A total of 600 women, with children aged between 6 months and 12 months, from those registered in PHCC in Abha were included in the study. Their age ranged between 18 and 47 years with a mean of 31.4±5 years. Most of them were Saudi (88.2%) and university graduated (78.7%). Overall mothers' breastfeeding knowledge was good among more than half of them (55.3%) and excellent among 30.7% of them while it was unsatisfactory among 14% of the mothers. Positive attitude towards breastfeeding was reported among 62.2% of the participants while negative attitude was reported among more than one-third of them (37.8%). Breastfeeding in the first 6 months was practiced by 24.7% of the participated mothers. Of them, only 7.3% practiced exclusive breast feeding. In the multivariate analysis, governmental workers had significant double probability of not practicing exclusive breastfeeding as opposed to house wives (adjusted OR= 1.9, 95%CI= 1.02-4.3). Women delivered by caesarean section were at double risk for non-practicing exclusive breastfeeding compared to those delivered normally (adjusted OR= 2.1, 95%CI= 1.2-10.4). Women who did not have breastfeeding education were at higher risk of not practicing exclusive breastfeeding than those have it (adjusted OR=1.9, 95%CI=1.06-11.2). Work-related problems (46.2%), insufficient breast milk (34.2%), maternal health problems (14.9%) and neonatal health problems (9.7%) are the commonly reported barriers against exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: Breastfeeding exclusivity among our sample is suboptimal, compared to the current WHO recommendations, despite the relatively higher level of knowledge. Irrespective of maternal educational status, many misconceptions are prevalent regarding breastfeeding practices that need special emphasis in health education campaigns.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren and to determine the level house dust mites in Kuwaiti homes and its role in asthma and rhinitis. Subjects and Method: The International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Children questionnaire was distributed to schoolchildren in the age group of 5–7 years, after random sampling from all the five governorates of Kuwait. The questionnaires were completed and initiated by parents with the help of the investigator and parents. House dust was collected from the bedroom floor of 549 houses in the same geographical areas where the schoolchildren were sampled, extracted and assayed for mite Der p 1 by ELISA method. Results: The estimated prevalence of asthma was 22.4% and that of rhinitis was 23%. House dust collected from the bedroom floor was found to contain low levels of Der p 1. There was no significant difference (p = 0.969) in the level of Der p 1 between areas in Kuwait. The highest levels of Der p 1 ranged from 0.02 to 0.10 mg/g in 3.5% of the total samples examined. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of asthma and rhinitis among the schoolchildren in Kuwait. However, the level of dust mitogens investigated in this study was below the level of concern, thus undermining their role in increasing asthma cases in Kuwait. Therefore, further studies are needed to understand the role of other mite allergens and other factors that contribute to the increased prevalence of allergic diseases in Kuwaiti children.

The clinical link among diabetes, obesity, and thyroid dysfunction is of interest. Hence, medical records of 601 patients with diabetes, obesity, and thyroid dysfunctions at the Abha Specialist Center and Military Diabetic Endocrine Center we used in this analysis. Approximately 28% of diabetic patients had thyroid dysfunction, and 12.4% were vitamin D deficient. The patients with thyroid dysfunction had significantly elevated triglyceride levels compared to the patients without thyroid dysfunction (173.6 vs. 128. p=0.009). Vitamin D deficient obese patients were significantly younger (33.99±10.69 vs. 43.68±14.42; p<0.001) and had significantly lower levels of HbA1c (5.73±1.16 vs. 6.83±2.08; p=0.014) and lower systolic BP (120.26±11.75 vs. 124.58±13.63; p=0.049) than non-vitamin D deficient obese patients. Vitamin D deficient thyroid patients had significantly lower diastolic BP (71.4±9.9 vs. 74.9±9.7; p=0.040) and higher HbA1c (8.7±3.6 vs. 6.4±1.7; p=0.003) in comparison to non-vitamin D deficient thyroid patients. Hence, analysis of metabolic disorders in these patients will help combat complications in these cases.

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Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and related mortalities have been steadily increasing in KSA over the past 20 years. CRC in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) population presents in younger ages and in more advanced disease states as compared to other countries. This study was aimed to determine factors (demographic, habitual, environmental, nutritional, and genetic) associated with CRC in Riyadh, KSA. Materials and Methods: A matched case-control study conducted in the major hospitals in Riyadh (King Khalid university Hospital, King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh Military Hospital, Security Force Hospital, King Fahd Medical City). Here most of CRC cases are managed. The cases ( n = 121) group included all recently diagnosed and pathologically confirmed Saudi cases of CRC identified during the period 1 st of January 2017 till 31 st of December 2018 who agreed to participate and fulfilled the inclusion criteria. A similar number of controls attending the study settings were selected consecutively from the clinics where cases were managed and matched on a 1:1 basis with cases based on age (+/-3 years) and gender. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Conditional logistic regression models were fitted to determine factors associated with risk of CRC. Result: This study included similar number of males and females in both groups: males 69 (57%) and females 52 (43%) in each group (Chi-square test P = 1.0). The mean (S.D) age in the cases group was 53.6 (S.D = 12.9) and 53.3 (S.D = 12.9) in the controls group (Student test P = 0.86). In the final multivariate conditional logistic regression model, variables independently associated with risk of colorectal cancer were body mass index (OR = 0.93; 95% CI 0.87–0.98; P = 0.011) employment status (inverse relation: OR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.14–0.77; P = 0.010), colon polyps (OR = 4.09; 95% CI 1.06–15.82; P = 0.041), and constipation (OR = 4.98; 95% CI 1.91–15.99; P = 0.001). Conclusion: Factors associated with CRC in the major referral hospitals in KSA were colon polyps, chronic constipation, and unemployment. These factors should be considered when screening for patients at risk for CRC.