Prevalence of obesity among adults in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20190075Keywords:
Body mass index, Obesity, Overweight, Prevalence, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab EmiratesAbstract
Background: There is an increasing prevalence of obesity globally which is associated with Non Communicable Diseases. As this trend continues even in UAE we decided to focus on determining the prevalence of obesity among adults in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE.
Methods: This was a retrospective observational study done in adults between the age group of 18 to 77 years using convenience sampling technique in 544 subjects. Anthropometric, bio chemical, clinical and demographic data was collected by direct interview for four consecutive years, i.e. from 2013 to 2016. Body Mass Index (BMI) was analyzed to classify individuals as overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9kg/m²), Obese grade I (BMI 30.0-34.9kg/m²), Obese grade II (BMI 35.0-39.9kg/m²) and obese grade III (BMI > 40.0kg/m²).
Results: Data was obtained from 544 subjects and considered for analysis. Our results showed that the mean age of the study population was 39.29±13.43 years, the mean weight was 75.35±15.65 kilograms and the mean BMI was 27.62±5.43kg/m2. A total of 67.6% of the study population was either overweight or obese. The prevalence of overweight is 36.2% followed by obesity prevalence of 31.4% of which 22.8% were categorized as Grade I obese, 5.5% Grade II obese and 3.1% Grade III obese. We found that higher proportions of males were in overweight and obese category compared to females.
Conclusions: The results derived from our study shows that obesity and overweight are widespread among Ras al khaimah population with the obesity prevalence of 31.4%. Hence, policy makers should focus on preparing national nutritional strategies and implement protocols to overcome this burden by giving practical solutions.
References
Haidar YM, Cosman BC. Obesity epidemiology. Clin. Colon Rectal Surg. 2011;24:205-10.
Popkin BM, Adair LS, Ng SW. Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutr Rev. 2012;70:3-21.
WHO. Obesity and Overweight Fact sheet 2016. Available at: www.who.int/News- room/factsheets/detail/obesity and overweight.
Pantalone KM, Hobbs TM, Chagin KM, Kong SX, Wells BJ, Kattan MW, et al Prevalence and recognition of obesity and its associated comorbidities: cross-sectional analysis of electronic health record data from a large US integrated health system BMJ Open. 2017;7:e017583.
Ramachandran A, Snehalatha C. Rising burden of obesity in Asia. J Obes. 2010:868573.
Musaiger AO. Overweight and obesity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: can we control it? Eastern Mediterranean Heal J. 2004; 10(6):789-93.
Carter AO, Saadi HF, Reed RL, Dunn EV. Assessment of obesity, lifestyle, and reproductive health needs of female citizens of Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. J Health Popul Nutr. 2004;1:75-83.
Sultan AL Nohair, Obesity in Gulf Countries Int J Health Sci (Qassim). 2014 Jan;8(1):79-83.
Bouchard C. How much progress have we madeover the last few decades? Int J Obes (Lond). 2008;32(suppl 7):S2-S7.
The World Fact book 2009. Central Intelligence Agency; Washington DC, USA, 2009. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.
WHO/EMRO. Regional data on non-communicable diseases risk factors. World Health Organization, Regional Office of East Mediterranean Non-communicable diseases. Available at: http//www.emr.who.int.ncd.
Gu D, He J, Duan X, Reynolds K, Wu X, Chen J, et al. Body weight and mortality among men and women in China. JAMA. 2006 Feb 15;295(7):776-83.
Yusuf S, Hawken S, Ounpuu S, Bautista L, Franzosi MG, Commerford P, et al. Interheart study investigators. Lancet. 2005 Nov 5;366(9497):1640-9.
Al-Nozha MM, Al-Mazrou YY, Al-Maatouq MA, Arafah MR, Khalil MZ, Khan NB, et al. Obesity in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Med J. 2005;26(5):824-9.
Sibai AM, Hwalla N, Adra N, Rahal B. Prevalence and covariates of obesity in Lebanon: findings from the first epidemiological study. Obes Res. 2003 Nov;11(11):1353-61.
